Throwback Thursday: From Alabama to the Olympics, Quanesha Burks

How a former Crimson Tide athlete went from working in McDonald's in Hartselle, Alabama, to competing for Team USA in Tokyo is one of the best stories of the Olympics.

With the Tokyo Olympics finally ready to start after being postponed in 2020, BamaCentral will look back at some of the stories our writers have done throughout the years on Crimson Tide athletes who will be competing. You may have already seen this story by Sports Illustrated, From McDonald's to the Olympics: How Jumper Quanesha Burks Made Her Way to Team USA. The following is a story I did on June 6, 2017, which won an award from the Alabama Sports Writers Association: 

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Her breaks were few and far between, so when the Alabama coaches would try and reach her they’d sometimes have to call back. Otherwise, she’d occasionally stop talking in the middle of the conversation and they would hear something both very familiar and very unusual.

“Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order?”

“Yes, we’d like a track and field superstar to go, please. Hold the pickles.”

Maybe the response wasn’t quite like that, or even the sentiment as no one knew that a future world-class athlete was handling the drive-through. But Quanesha Burks was an 11-time high school state champion who set seven school records despite working on the side. It made her recruitment like none that Crimson Tide coach Dan Waters had experienced.

“Quite frankly coming out of high school her marks weren’t quite SEC full-scholarship material,” he said. “We thought we’re going to take a risk on this girl.”

What they figured out during some of those phone calls was that Burks was pretty special, a driven person who could add something to the program regardless of her atypical background. They thought that maybe she could develop into a regular contributor.

Instead, they got a lot more than that, landing one of the most decorated athletes in Crimson Tide history.

Heading into her final collegiate meet, as the NCAA Outdoor Championships begin Wednesday in Eugene, Ore., she’s already a five-time All-American (plus a second-team honor), a two-time NCAA champion, and is one of only four women to win three or more Southeastern Conference titles in one event in Alabama history.

“She is very impressive,” said teammate Lakan Taylor, an NCAA champion in the pole vault. “She’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever come across.”

Called “Q” by some, Burks is also one of the friendliest and down-to-earth ones as well.

From Hartselle, Ala., she’s a small-town success story on a team that boasts quality athletes from a wide range of domestic and international locations, including Cyprus, Tasmania and Hawaii. Located midway between Birmingham and Nashville, it’s a stopping point off US 65 for people heading elsewhere, with a population of about 15,000.

“It’s small,” she said. “You may see a couple of red lights. You might see a tractor on the road.”

They do have fast food, though, like the McDonald’s in front of the Crestwood Shopping Center. The surrounding stores change, but it’s where one can get everything from pet food to their nails done, and there’s even a place to renew car tags. Around the corner is Tractor Supply Company, which helps explain some of the unusual downtown congestion.

Hartselle High School’s enrollment is just shy of 1,000, and ironically now has a new rubberized track that’s ideal for training. It didn’t when Burks was there. The Tigers practiced inside the football stadium, J.P. Cain Stadium, which had numerous holes in the asphalt and had been measured out to include the 440-yard race that was deemed obsolete in favor of 400 meters in 1976.

Like so many others in track and field, Burks started off playing a different sport and found herself looking for another way to compete and train during the offseason. Her initial dream was to someday play for Pat Summit, and she was an all-area selection in basketball.

Along the way, Burks found out she was better in track and then that became the priority. But not at first. Her sophomore year, Hartselle had a new track coach Kenny Lopez, and she pondered dropping the sport.

“She’s really relational, which is great, and she has a great personality,” said Lopez, who is now at Falkville High School. "She didn’t know what to expect out of me.”

Their first meet together was right after the end of basketball season and Burks had just a couple of practices before the opening big regional meet, the Huntsville Panther Invitational at Milton Frank Stadium.

Burks won the long jump and was the top seed for the 100 when Lopez noticed the peculiar way that she lined up for her first heat, without track spikes or blocks to aid her start. She still easily won.

“I’m like, ‘Whoa. This is going to be fun,’” Lopez said.

One thing he had done at that point was teach Burks the triple jump, which she wasn’t so sure about until placing first in it as well. As he earned her trust, Burks’ confidence grew, but it took a few losses against tougher competition for her to become more detail-oriented and gain consistency.

When she hit 20 feet in the long jump during a meet in Mobile as a junior, big-time programs started recruiting her to the point that she started asking her boss for quick breaks to answer some of the calls.

She became the 2013 Class 5A state champion in the 100 meters (12.74 seconds), long jump (19 feet, 2 inches) and triple jump (39-10), and placed third in the 200 (25.69), but Burks still never dreamed that she’d become this good. Her expectation levels were still somewhere between low and none, and she took nothing for granted.

She still doesn’t.

“Me and my coach talk about that all the time,” Burks said. “He was once, ‘What was your goal coming to college?’ Honestly, if I jumped 20 feet high I would have been happy. I’d have the best college career.

“Now when I look back, I didn’t imagine any of this, at all. All this? Oh no. This would be impossible.”

Assistant coach Miguel Pate, the former Crimson Tide All-American and long jump national champion, was the one to build the relationship with Burks, much like Lopez had done, which was crucial in her choosing Alabama.

It was also because of Pate that she tried out and started training with U.S. Track as a freshman. Again, she assumed nothing, but liked the idea of traveling and seeing more of the world while competing in different venues.

“That’s when my whole focus changed. It was a turning point in my life,” said Burks, as the initial idea continuing to jump 20 feet was pushed aside. “I want to be a national and SEC champion. I want make the USA team.”

She became an All-American at the end of that season, running the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that finished sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Burks finished 18th in the long jump, but the following year no one beat her in any finals during the outdoor season. She capped it with a 22-8 while winning the title.

Since then her career has much pretty read like the instructions on a shampoo bottle, although instead of lather, rinse, repeat, its school record, champion, All-American.

Not all of them are in the long jump, either. She was part of the 4x100-meter relay team that just set the Alabama record at the NCAA East Regional at Kentucky, along with senior Diamond Gause and freshmen Symone Darius and Takyera Roberson. Burks also wrapped up her final indoor season by landing All-American honors in the 60 meters.

Incidentally, Burks is an Academic All-American who is set to graduate next year with a degree in elementary education.

If you’re wondering how she juggles it all she doesn’t hesitate in answering: “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” But the old job provides a good hint, and also a glimpse at her motivation.

Burks worked throughout high school just to help out at home, and she has two younger sisters for whom she’s trying to set a good example. She’s the first person in her family to go to college, so being good, either on the track or in the classroom, simply isn’t good enough even though it’s led to a lot of long nights at the Capstone.

“Some of my teammates are like, ‘Just take the C,’ I went ‘Oh no.’” Burks explained. “I push myself a lot.”

Consequently, when Alabama coaches recently did their end-of-the-year meetings for those who will be returning, Burks was someone they frequently talked about as an example for everyone else to follow.

It wasn’t just about how she went from humble beginnings to an elite competitor who has a very promising future with USA Track. From her confidence to her drive and determination, the Crimson Tide consider her an ideal example how college athletics are supposed to work.

“It’s why we do this,” Waters said.

Started at McDonalds🍟 ➡️ TO THE OLYMPICS 🇺🇸@McDonalds https://t.co/K08c18R8BF

— Quanesha Burks OLY (@strongbelieverQ) June 29, 2021