Beau Burroughs was one of the greatest throws in Florida history, especially in his signature shot put. He is the latest athlete featured in our series honoring the legends of our All-Decade Team.
Career Summary
The first half of the 1990s was kind of the golden age for Florida boys throwers. All of the Florida throwers who made the All-Decade team competed in this era: Wes Stockbarger, Garrett Johnson, Ricky Jean-Francois, Michael Putman, and of course Beau Burroughs. Other stars such as Tavares Gooden, Steven Octavien, Mike Reed, Scott Clayman, and others made it a very hard and talented environment to compete in!
By his senior year though, Beau was firing on all four cylinders and launching his throws to national-level distances. Though he finished third in the state rankings in the discus that year with 178-1.5, his signature event has always certainly been the shot put. And he didn't waste any time making a statement in that event in 2004.
Competing up in Maryland at Nike Indoors, he threw for a huge new PR of 60-9.25 that earned him third place at the national championship indoor event. Two weeks later at the prestigious Florida Relays he took two silvers in the shot (61-9.25, exactly a foot longer than Nike Indoor) and disc (170-9) to Wes Stockbarger. If this was football they'd be pulling out the chains to measure that one because Stockbarger's winning throw was logged just a quarter inch further at 61-9.5!!
Burroughs continued hurling some massive throws the rest of the season, including a PR 63-2 at the regional championship. That mark was fifth on the all-time list at the time, now only six have ever thrown further. But then came what really mattered: the state meet. With the help of 13 points from Beau the year before, Tampa Jesuit had won the state championship. With some key graduations, a back-to-back wasn't quite in the cards, but Beau did everything in his power to give them a shot! He supplied them with 20 points, winning both of his events and propelling the team to an impressive third place and 47 points--enough to win the previous year. Beau's winning throws were 61-7.5 and 178-2.
After graduating from Tampa Jesuit in 2004, Beau had a successful career at UF that just concluded this spring. He has credentials like All-American and SEC Champion on his resume from his career as a Gator.
Interview
Looking back what are you most proud of in your high school career?
Winning state championships in the shot put and discus my senior year was extremely gratifying, but nothing compared to the absolute joy that came with winning the 2003 team state championship. Victory would not have tasted so sweet if it were not for the miserable showing our team put on the year before. We had an outside shot of winning but almost everyone flopped, which including me by fouling out in the discus. All the letdowns our team experienced in 2002 was replaced by great performances in 2003. The complete happiness I experienced waiting to receive the trophy and celebrate with my team is unmatched. The only disappointing part was in the trophy itself. The old FHSAA triangle trophy was neat, elegant and made out of glass, or so I thought. I remember grasping the trophy about to kiss it and thinking,"This isn't glass, it's some cheap plexiglas stuff." But I accepted the trophy for whom she was and kissed her anyway.
Who or what had the biggest impact on your success?
There are numerous coaches, athletes and mentors all partly responsible for my success, but nobody did more for me than my parents. Keeping my head up through tough times or driving me to practices and meets. My parents are my biggest fans.
Who were the guys you really loved to compete against?
I'd never seen anyone throw with the shot put "rotation" technique until I was 14 at the BAYTAF Classic at USF. I was watching the older group throw, but especially one thrower in particular who was heaving the steel ball 10 feet further than anyone. Not only was he throwing further, but he was doing a wild spin through the ring, something I had never seen before. It was Garrett Johnson in the ring that day, throwing what seemed to be a mile but in reality only about 52 feet. Since we were both from Tampa, I was able to compete against Garrett often in high school for the next two years and would watch his technique because I had no video of anyone spinning at the time.
What is your fondest memory from high school athletics?
It happened at a meet on Jesuit's old asphalt track. I can't recall the meet or the year, but I definitely remember the event. It was the epic "Fat-Man Relay". The only time when the Big Guys are allowed to take center stage and shift from grunting and yelling in a seven-foot circle to huffing and puffing on a 400-meter oval. At Jesuit we took pride in our swift-footed fat men, and I having the swiftest feet of all the fat men accepted the honor of anchoring our 4X250lb relay. Other schools (Mainly Tampa Catholic) failed to adhere to customary Fat-Man protocol by using this celebrated tradition as a time to run their "B" and "C" squads. Even with some schools disobeying with non Fat-Men the race went on as planned. By the time I received the baton Tampa Catholic's anchor leg was in the final straightaway of the race, but their third leg made the poor choice of walking out his lane and even the poorer choice of walking into mine. I knew what I had to do. I had to take this skinny punk out. A few seconds later it happened. THWACK! He ended up 10 feet away on the ground and I just kept on trucking to the finish line. Tampa Catholic may have won the Fat-Man Relay that night, but our Jesuit team won the hearts of the fans.
What are you doing now?
I'm taking two classes in the fall to graduate from the University if Florida with a degree in journalism.
What advice would you give current high school athletes?
Be patient. One piece of advice that sticks with me is something my father always said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."