For Sam Burley, this past weekend was both a beginning and an ending.
Racing in the 800-meter finals at the USA Track and Field Championships, Burley wore the colors of the Asics team in his first ever professional race. But he came to Stanford University's famous Cobb Track and Angell Field with fellow Quakers past and present to represent Penn for the last time, if only in spirit.
Burley was joined in Palo Alto, Calif., by Penn senior Brian Chaput, and the recently graduated Julie Siebert-Johnson. Also, Penn assistant coaches Jamie Cook and John Taylor competed in the decathlon and javelin events respectively.
As was the case for most of the season, Burley and Chaput were the stars of the Quakers' show, each taking sixth in their respective events.
For Burley, it was the 800m run, where he finished in a time of 1:47.59. This was no small feat with the second and fifth finishers, Khadevis Robinson and Jesse Strutzel, representing Nike, and David Krummenacker, who won the championship, representing Adidas.
Texas Tech's Jonathan Johnson exacted a small measure of revenge against the former Penn star. Burley overtook Johnson in the last 200 meters of the NCAA Championships to claim the title on June 16. Johnson finished third with a time of 1:46.76 at the USA Championships.
Burley's time may have been affected by his recovery from a sprained ankle suffered after the semifinals. He ran a 1:46.50 a week earlier to beat Johnson and win the NCAA crown.
Chaput, who came to the Championships listed as "unattached," averaged 239 feet 2 inches per throw in the javelin. This mark was well below his Penn and Ivy League record of 258 feet 2 inches, which won the NCAA Championship this year.
Three other members of the Penn track family participated in the USAT&F; championships. Julie Siebert-Johnson finished 11th in the javelin competition with a 149 foot 8 inch throw.
The Quakers assistants each had solid finishes as well. Cook took ninth place in the decathlon competition, scoring 7612 points, while Taylor finished 19th in the javelin competition with an average throw of 213 feet 10 inches.
Both Cook and Taylor represented the Javelin USA team.
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