Taylor Burke stays busy.
After winning the women’s high jump with a 1.76m jump at the Florida Relays on April 5, she played goalie for the UF soccer team in two exhibition games against UCF and USF on April 7.
“It’s actually pretty easy,” Burke said of playing two sports.
“The high-jump coach and the soccer coach are really good at figuring out where I’m supposed to be and what practices I’m going to.”
This past indoor season, Burke broke a 21-year-old school record in the high jump at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va.
By clearing a height of 1.86m, Burke surpassed former Gator jumper Maria Galloni’s mark of 1.85m set at the 1992 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships.
“Taylor is a great athlete,” coach Mike Holloway said.
“We knew that during the recruiting process. Any athlete that can come in and juggle the rigors of two different sports and college life together and be an All-American is a very special athlete.”
Burke says her track conditioning also proves beneficial on the soccer field.
“High jump training definitely helps me in soccer, like coming out for high balls,” she said.
With soccer season in the fall and track season in the spring, Burke’s schedule is seemingly always full.
“In the fall, it’s soccer season. I go to track once a week,” Burke said.
“It’s the same thing in the spring. I go to track practice everyday and then go to soccer once a week.”
Burke is busy for most of the year, but she does get a short break.
“I have a little bit of an offseason,” Burke said.
“During Summer B, I train with soccer to get ready before preseason. That’s kind of the time when it’s all conditioning and getting ready for the season.”
Burke won six events as a freshman in 2012, including a victory in the women’s high jump at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships on May 12 in Baton Rouge, La.
Burke has three victories in 2013, including her high jump win at the Florida Relays.
“It was really fun just competing at home,” Burke said. “There are a lot of good competitors in the high jump, so it was really fun to see everyone out here. It was really good to come out with a win. I’ve never actually been in a jump-off before, so that was really fun.”
Burke credits her improvement this season to extra work with Florida jumps coach Nic Petersen. Burke feels she is just now beginning to really hit her stride.
“I actually changed my approach this year,” Burke said. “I walk into my approach. It gives me more momentum out of the back. That’s really helped me now that I’m stronger and faster this year and getting over that freshman hump. I think I’ve adapted to the school and training.”
Moving forward, Burke and the rest of the women look to improve upon their fourth and 13th place finishes at this year’s Southeastern Conference and NCAA Indoor Championships, respectively. Burke acknowledges winning this year will be a tall task, but she, like many others, is confident in the Gators’ underclassmen.
“They’re bringing it big every single meet,” Burke remarked. “They’re just great athletes. Everyone that’s come in have just been really good athletes and really good people. I’m really looking forward to see what else they have to offer.”
Gators sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Burke makes a save against the Tennessee Volunteers during a game in 2011. Burke played the second half in Florida's 3-0 home loss on FSU on Friday night.
