By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Anybody who ever watched Needham's Davonte Burnett run knew he was destined for big things, and it doesn't get much bigger than becoming an Olympic athlete.
A native of Hyde Park and graduate of Needham High School in 2018, Burnett won six state titles in track for the Rockets. As a junior in 2017, Burnett won the 100m dash at both the MIAA State Championships and at the New England Championships, and placed No. 7 at the New Balance Nationals. Burnett also won the 2017 Massachusetts state 200m title and placed No. 7 in the 200m final at the New Balance Nationals. Burnett's high school personal records were 10.48 in the 100m and 21.01 in the 200m - both were the fastest of the times of any MIAA athletes from the past decade.
As a senior in 2018, Burnett was injured in the 200m final at the MIAA Eastern Division Championships, where he placed No. 8. The injury forced him to miss the 100m final, as well as New Balance Nationals.
After graduating from Needham, Burnett attended Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas for two years from 2019-2020, where he was a 2020 NJCAA Indoor All-American in both the 60m and 200m. Burnett won the 60m title with a time of 6.63 and placed No. 4 in the 200m with a time of 21.05. He set his indoor 60m personal record of 6.62 by winning the NJCAA Region VI indoor title on February 22, 2020 and his indoor 200m best of 20.73 at the Red Raider Invitational on January 24, 2020. Following his two years at Barton, Burnett transferred to run track at the University of Southern California.
As a junior with the Trojans in 2021, Burnett set four personal bests, twice in the 100m (10.05 - PAC-12 Championships, 10.00 - NCAA West Prelims), along with a 20.29 in the 200m (NCAA West Quarterfinals) and a 39.20 in the 4x100m relay.
On June 30, Burnett qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (being held in 2021 due to COVID-19). Despite his United States citizenship, Burnett will compete for he and his parents' native country of Jamaica. Burnett will be running in the 4x400 mixed relay along with Javeir Brown, Keeno Burrell, Tiffany James, Charokee Young and Kemba Nelson.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0.
