Shortly after the University of Oregon hired Jerry Schumacher as head cross country and track coach in July, Schumacher reached out to Connor Burns, MileSplit's fourth-ranked boys recruit for the Class of 2023.
Until then, Burns had not seriously considered Oregon.
In fact, he had decided to take his five official visits to Stanford, Duke, Tennessee, Washington and Virginia.
Still, Burns, who ran a time of 3:58.83 in the mile in June, was intrigued with Oregon because his father, former University of Missouri coach Marc Burns, had known Schumacher for years and Schumacher had a stellar reputation in running circles.
Before joining Oregon, Schumacher had spent 15 years as director and coach of the Bowerman Track Club, where he coached 28 Olympians. He also previously led the Univers...
