Wordly Burguiere can't stand still
5/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Burguiere (pronounced bur-GEAR) will help lead Montana State’s resurgent, surprising men’s track squad into action on Saturday, the final day of competition in the 2003 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Bozeman. The day will be a busy one for the senior jumper from Whitefish High. He will compete almost simultaneously in the high jump, which begins at 11 am, and triple jump, which starts at noon.
For Burguiere, staying in one place has never been an option. "I moved a lot when I was growing up," said the native of southern France whose step-father worked for Shell Oil. Burguiere has loved in France, Scotland, Holland, Nigeria, West Africa, and Tunisia, before his mother settled in Whitefish before his junior year in high school.
"He doesn’t talk a lot about all the things he’s seen," said MSU jumps coach Tom Eitel, who coaches Burguiere, "but he has seen some incredible things."
Those incredible things pop quickly to Burguiere’s mind. "The jungle in West Africa, the desert in Tunisia, a lot of history stuff. My step-father loved adventuring, too, getting out and seeing things. He built a tree-house in our favorite place onthe beach (in Africa) that not many people knew about. We’d go there and spend the night. When we lived in Tunisia, there is so much ancient Roman history there, and avery weekend we’d go to different Roman ruin sites. I was low to the ground as a little guy and I’d find pieces of pottery, and one time I found three pieces that connected. They had to be around 1,700 or 1,800 years old."
Like his childhood, Burguiere’s athletic career has not followed a direct path. A self-professed basketball junkie as a younger child in Europe -- "I played basketball every day of my life," he says -- he turned to track when his coach at Whitefish High noticed his jumping ability. "I picked up (the triple jump) real easily, it came naturally for me."
That natural ability in both his chosen events should allow him to challenge for Big Sky titles. He enters the competition ranked fourth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump in the league. "I think I’ve had a better season in the high jump than the triple jump," he says. Still, Burguiere is just over a foot from qualifying for the NCAA Regionals, something "I really, really want to do."
As solid as Burguiere’s athletic career has been, his academic success will likely stand as his strongest legacy at MSU. He graduated last weekend with highest honors in engineering, and the two-time Verizon Academic All-America Region VII selection has a job waiting for him with Exxon Mobil Oil’s international construction division. "Cyril was highly recruited," says Eitel, but not for track. He was really recruited by different engineering schools." Says Burguiere, "Engineering is why I came to MSU, but the reason I really love this place is because of the track team, my coaches and teammates."
For Burguiere, staying in one place has never been an option. "I moved a lot when I was growing up," said the native of southern France whose step-father worked for Shell Oil. Burguiere has loved in France, Scotland, Holland, Nigeria, West Africa, and Tunisia, before his mother settled in Whitefish before his junior year in high school.
"He doesn’t talk a lot about all the things he’s seen," said MSU jumps coach Tom Eitel, who coaches Burguiere, "but he has seen some incredible things."
Those incredible things pop quickly to Burguiere’s mind. "The jungle in West Africa, the desert in Tunisia, a lot of history stuff. My step-father loved adventuring, too, getting out and seeing things. He built a tree-house in our favorite place onthe beach (in Africa) that not many people knew about. We’d go there and spend the night. When we lived in Tunisia, there is so much ancient Roman history there, and avery weekend we’d go to different Roman ruin sites. I was low to the ground as a little guy and I’d find pieces of pottery, and one time I found three pieces that connected. They had to be around 1,700 or 1,800 years old."
Like his childhood, Burguiere’s athletic career has not followed a direct path. A self-professed basketball junkie as a younger child in Europe -- "I played basketball every day of my life," he says -- he turned to track when his coach at Whitefish High noticed his jumping ability. "I picked up (the triple jump) real easily, it came naturally for me."
That natural ability in both his chosen events should allow him to challenge for Big Sky titles. He enters the competition ranked fourth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump in the league. "I think I’ve had a better season in the high jump than the triple jump," he says. Still, Burguiere is just over a foot from qualifying for the NCAA Regionals, something "I really, really want to do."
As solid as Burguiere’s athletic career has been, his academic success will likely stand as his strongest legacy at MSU. He graduated last weekend with highest honors in engineering, and the two-time Verizon Academic All-America Region VII selection has a job waiting for him with Exxon Mobil Oil’s international construction division. "Cyril was highly recruited," says Eitel, but not for track. He was really recruited by different engineering schools." Says Burguiere, "Engineering is why I came to MSU, but the reason I really love this place is because of the track team, my coaches and teammates."
Wednesday, June 10
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Friday, March 13
