Who competes in one of the most grueling athletic events just for fun? Apparently, El Dorado’s DeAndra Burns Jr., that’s who.
Burns, the Sports Alley/News-Times Spring Sports Male Athlete of the Year, finished 18th in the Arkansas High School Heptathlon last week. It capped off a busy spring which saw him win titles in the 5A State Track & Field Championships and the Meet of Champions.
“I can’t complain. I had a good season this year,” Burns said. “I really just had fun. This was my last high school year. You can’t go back in time and get it back. I had fun this year. This year was a fun year to me.”
The senior, who signed to play football and run track at Arkansas State, was state champion in the 400 (48.17) and long jump and anchored the winning 4x200. He was also second in the 100 and 200. He won the conference championship in the 100 (10.76) and long jump (23-05.50).
At the Meet of Champions, Burns won the long jump and anchored the winning 4x200 and finished fourth in the 100.
“Highlight was the 4x200 because that was my last time running with people that I hang with a lot,” he said. “We were having fun before it, talking and playing and then we went out there and won. That was a highlight to me.”
Burns said he decided earlier in the year that he wanted to try the heptathlon for the first time. His final finish would’ve been higher but he failed to clear a height in the pole vault.
“I was going to spend the most time I could with my coaches and my boy (Elijah Andrews), so I decided to enter it,” said Burns, who talked about his pole vaulting experience.
“I learned in one day in like five minutes. I couldn’t clear it but it was fun, though.”
Other standout spring sport male performers included Strong’s Kaiden McHenry-Jones, who won the 1A state track title in the 110 hurdles. His 15.17 broke the state record. The sophomore also finished second in the 100, second in the 200 and fourth in the triple jump. At the Meet of Champions, McHenry-Jones placed ninth in the 110 hurdles.
El Dorado’s Dunte Maker finished fourth in the Arkansas High School Wrestling Tournament in the boys’ 215-pound division. Maker, who will wrestle at Ouachita Baptist University, won El Dorado’s first-ever wrestling medal with a runner-up showing in 2022. This season, he lost the third place match 3-2 to Searcy’s Jalen Jackson.