2008 Woodie Awards
VALLEY PEOPLE: The Model Athlete
Tammy Funicello
Issue date: 3/22/06 Section: Sports
Don't let Antoinette Burton's model-like looks fool you, though she is a model she's a hard-working student athlete as well.
"Balancing school, track and modeling is a rush because I am always going back and forth from modeling to class or to practice," said Burton.
The kinesiology major, who has been modeling for two years, was first approached about it when she was only seven years old but turned it down so she could have a normal childhood. She has been in a number of print ads and is currently auditioning for summer bathing suit ads.
"Modeling is exhilarating because every audition is something new," said Burton. "I learn a lot on the way."
Along with being a model she is one of the top athletes on Valley's track team. This is her second and last year on the team. In her first she came in fifth place in the high jump at the state meet. Burton was the only Valley athlete to make it to state last year and the only high jumper to go in multiple years. She will also compete in the heptathlon for the second year in a row. Although high jump is her favorite event, for the heptathlon she will compete in high-jump, long-jump, shot-put, javelin, 110 meter hurdles, 200 meter and 800 meter runs. Last year she was in the top five until the last event and finished in tenth place.
"She has been a big contributor to our overall point total," said women's coach Yannick Allain. "She is a workhorse for this small team and it goes a long way. She has a lot of courage and perseverance."
Burton has been at Valley for two years and has only another semester or two left. She has already had recruiters from schools such as UCLA and Chico State coming to watch her jump and hopes to transfer with a track scholarship. After she gets her degree Burton hopes to become a coach with the skills of an athletic trainer in order to help her students.
"I am so proud of how devoted she is," said Yvette Burton, her mother. "I am actually surprised at how loyal she is. If her friends call her and ask her to go out she won't if she has a track meet the next day. She has stuck with it and I am proud of her."
Burton, who says the competition is what drives her, credits her coaches at Valley as her inspiration.
"I really am speechless when it comes to all the effort the coaches put in and how they truly believe in how far I can go," said Burton.
"Balancing school, track and modeling is a rush because I am always going back and forth from modeling to class or to practice," said Burton.
The kinesiology major, who has been modeling for two years, was first approached about it when she was only seven years old but turned it down so she could have a normal childhood. She has been in a number of print ads and is currently auditioning for summer bathing suit ads.
"Modeling is exhilarating because every audition is something new," said Burton. "I learn a lot on the way."
Along with being a model she is one of the top athletes on Valley's track team. This is her second and last year on the team. In her first she came in fifth place in the high jump at the state meet. Burton was the only Valley athlete to make it to state last year and the only high jumper to go in multiple years. She will also compete in the heptathlon for the second year in a row. Although high jump is her favorite event, for the heptathlon she will compete in high-jump, long-jump, shot-put, javelin, 110 meter hurdles, 200 meter and 800 meter runs. Last year she was in the top five until the last event and finished in tenth place.
"She has been a big contributor to our overall point total," said women's coach Yannick Allain. "She is a workhorse for this small team and it goes a long way. She has a lot of courage and perseverance."
Burton has been at Valley for two years and has only another semester or two left. She has already had recruiters from schools such as UCLA and Chico State coming to watch her jump and hopes to transfer with a track scholarship. After she gets her degree Burton hopes to become a coach with the skills of an athletic trainer in order to help her students.
"I am so proud of how devoted she is," said Yvette Burton, her mother. "I am actually surprised at how loyal she is. If her friends call her and ask her to go out she won't if she has a track meet the next day. She has stuck with it and I am proud of her."
Burton, who says the competition is what drives her, credits her coaches at Valley as her inspiration.
"I really am speechless when it comes to all the effort the coaches put in and how they truly believe in how far I can go," said Burton.
