Gered Burns begins his third season on the UAlbany track and field staff after earning four letters as a member of the team. He is responsible for assisting Matt Jones with coaching the middle distance runners as well as the 4x800-meter relay and distance medley relay.
Burns has particularly helped the men's middle distance program reach new heights since he started on the sidelines. This past year, the group produced three America East indoor and outdoor individual champions. In addition, the 4x800-meter squad was victorious at the IC4A Championship and two relay teams hit the tape first at the America East indoor and outdoor meets. John Moore set the school record in the 1,000-meter run indoors, while three outdoor relay squads eclipsed program standards. In 2008-09, 11 Great Danes combined to break seven men's and women's school records in middle distance events, while the men's 4x800 clinched both IC4A team titles.
As a student-athlete, Burns, who has competed as a member of the New York Athletic Club, was the first of five Great Danes to earn All-America laurels when he placed fifth in the 800-meters at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship. He held four individual school records in the 800-meter run (1:47.97) and 1,000-meter run (2:26.50) indoors as well as the 800 (1:48.20) and 1,500 (3:47.78) outdoors when he graduated. Burns, a five-time IC4A champion, was also a member of four relay teams that broke program records. Two of his individual records as well as two relay marks still stand.
Burns, the most decorated middle distance runner in the program's history, earned an undergraduate degree in geology from UAlbany in 2007. He is currently pursuing a second bachelor's in environmental science.
