Perkins grad Cameron Burrows wins NCAA Division II long jump, takes fourth in high jump

Cameron Burrows was a bit banged up and wasn't one of the favorites in the long jump heading into this week's NCAA Division II National Outdoor Championships. Turns out a little time to heal his body was what he needed to finish his college track & field career as a national champion. Burrows, a 2015 Perkins graduate, soared 7.74 meters (25 feet, 4.75 inches) in the long jump to finish first at the national meet Thursday in Allendale, Michigan. He had six jumps and five of them would've won the competition. The other would have tied for first place. Burrows was ranked 12th in the nation heading into the meet at Grand Valley State University, so he might not have been viewed as a threat by the top jumpers. OK, Cam, how'd you do it? "Possibly taking about a week of rehab to get myself back in position to jump," he said Friday night. "I haven't practiced long jump at all in the past two weeks, just some approaches to check my steps." Even then, he said he didn't feel good Thursday: "My hamstring and calf have been giving me some problems for the past week." Despite the injuries, Burrows was confident he could pull off something incredible. He said he's had several big jumps that were not counted because of fouls on the board. "I've fouled on some unbelievable jumps, so I knew what I was capable of," he said. "That big long jump has been there in the past two or three years. It finally happened this week." It came three weeks after he pulled a groin at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference meet, where he won the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 1.5 inches. Burrows said the ugly weather this week in suburban Grand Rapids — it was about 50 degrees and windy — helped him and other athletes who are used to competing in less-than-ideal conditions. "I'm an Ohio kid. The top few guys in my event are from the South; they're not used to jumping in this type of weather," he said. "It was an advantage to the Northern teams." Burrows followed up his national championship in the long jump by finishing fourth in the high jump on Friday, clearing 6 feet, 11 inches. That's 3 1/4 inches shy of his career best. His next goal is to clear 7-4 in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of June in Eugene, Oregon. "That would be the way to retire from this sport," he said. Burrows, who thanked his jumps coach, Keith Reiter, finished his Tiffin career as a 10-time All-American (seven times in the high jump, three in the long jump). Burrows' previous best finish at an indoor or outdoor national meet was a third-place showing in the indoor high jump in 2019. He cleared 7 feet, 1/2 inch in that March 2019 meet. Prior to this year, he had four other top-five NCAA finishes: fifth in the 2017 indoor high jump; fourth in the 2018 indoor heptathlon and outdoor high jump; and fifth in the 2019 outdoor high jump. His previous best finish in the long jump at a national meet was 12th at the 2018 indoor meet. Burrows, 24, took advantage of the NCAA's rule that allowed an extra year of athletic eligibility because the 2020 outdoor season was canceled due to COVID-19. He not only used that extra time to hone his athletic skills, he hit the books, too. Burrows earned his second and third master's degrees in May. He has earned MBAs in sports management, marketing and human resource management. He's not sure what the future holds, but he would like to try coaching. His father, Shane, is the boys track coach at Perkins and Cam has helped coach the Pirates' jumpers. "I would love to coach at the college level for a couple years and see what that's like," he said. "I want to do something that when I wake up in the morning I feel good about going to my job."