As the Northern Michigan Women’s Track and Field team springs ahead to the outdoor season, there’s one athlete that is seeking to finish her decorated career on a high note.
Senior distance runner and nursing major Kameron Burmeister, one of three senior distance runners on the team, is coming off her most successful season on the indoor track and field, as well as last year’s outdoor track season.
“It’s been really exciting, but nothing is ever easy here, especially with travel, school, work and training,” Burmeister said.
Burmeister also said that with her grueling school/track schedule and graduation coming up, it’s taken a lot of energy from her.
“This past semester, I’ve been able to work 16-40 hours on the floor at the hospital, so it was touch-and-go from the very beginning,” Burmeister said.
“Being that it is my last season, I’d have to choose either to let the adversity take over and not believe to accomplish this season’s goals, or take it one meet, one practice, one clinical at a time, and just have fun with it. You can still be positive, you can still believe in yourself.”
Burmeister is also as positive of an influence off campus, as she volunteers at the Salvation Army back in her hometown of Menominee, and is involved with the Athletes in Action program.
She said these organizations made her a better person.
“We’ve done things such as helping serve meals, especially around the holidays,” Burmeister said. “It’s helped me put a stronger face on myself too.”
No stranger to winning key distance events, Burmeister won All-American honors in both GLIAC and NCAA Championships, with a third-place finish in the 5,000-meter and fifth place in the 3,000-meter events last season. She also placed as runner-up in the 10,000-meter run in the GLIACs. She has earned two All-American honors in cross country as well.
In this past indoor season, Burmeister earned her second career NCAA All-American track and field honors after finishing 11th place in the 5,000-meter run. She also moved up from 16th to 11th in the final 4,000-meter race. She also holds three school records in the process.
“If you’d asked me what my goals were my freshman year, I’d think maybe one All-American would be my goal. But to have two in both cross country and track, it’s been more than what I could imagine,” Burmeister said.
With Burmeister and her teammates preparing for their first outdoor events this weekend at the Twilight Meet at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin and at the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina, she is expecting to accomplish both personal and team goals to start the season.
