Distinguishing Himself: State hurdles champion Jesuit’s Ja’ir Burks earns All-America honor
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Ja’ir Burks was a football-specific athlete upon entering Jesuit High and now has created a niche for himself on a national scale in a totally different sport.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Burks, a proven wide receiver on the Blue Jays’ football team, has developed into not only one of the state’s top hurdlers, but also had the nation’s best time last outdoor season amongst sophomores in the 110-meter event.
Not only did Burks sweep both the 110 and 300 hurdles during the LHSAA’s state outdoor championships in 2025, but he helped the Blue Jays to a state runner-up indoor showing in February with a personal best and school-record time of 7.88 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles at LSU’s Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
“I was in a lot of events in eighth grade and freshman year, and that was one that kind of stuck with me,” Burks said. “I felt I could be good at it if I put in a lot of time and hard work into it.”
Burks took his game to another level over the weekend at the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, N.Y. His time of 7.72 in the 60-meter hurdles championship was good enough for fifth overall and All-America status as a top eight finisher.
“To PR (personal record) at this level of a meet is amazing,” Accardo said. “It’s good for him to see that there’s other people out there that are just as talented as him.”
Burks had a series of performances that included a 7.96 in the preliminaries and 7.90 in the semifinals, which was the eighth and final qualifying mark to reach the final. His personal best in the championship trailed champion Joshua-Kai Smith of Woodbridge, Va. (7.59), with five-tenths of a second separating him from second.
Jesuit’s 4 x mile relay team of Connor Fanberg, Rhys Grant, Joe Accardo, and Patrick Smith also earned All-America status with a third-place finish (17:40.73).
Jesuit, which opened its outdoor season on March 10 in the Patrick Ruth Memorial Relays at Joe Yenni Stadium, will take a contingent to the Florida State Relays in Tallahassee, Fla., on March 27 – an opportunity for Burks to find the kind of competition that will help prepare him for another run at a sweep in the LHSAA outdoor meet in May.
“He’s a real talented kid,” Accardo said. “He’s a real calm kid, and that’s what you need doing an event like the hurdles, where a lot can go wrong relatively quickly if you’re not calm.”
Burks played football for the majority of his life and planned to further hone his skills in the sport.
When presented with an opportunity to join Jesuit’s track team in eighth grade, Burks tried the hurdles.
“I was only a football player and came out for track because I thought I could compete,” he said.
The initial results weren’t to Burks’ liking, which motivated him to do better.
“There was working on explosivity coming out,” Accardo said. “A lot of it is trusting his coaches to do everything you can to stay as smooth as you can later. Outdoors, he’s starting with everybody, and then he pulls away. He’s smooth. You don’t have time to do that. That first step has to be big.”
With a start that gradually improved over the course of the 2024 season, Burks qualified for the state outdoor meet and placed fourth with a time of 14.63. He was behind the overall winner, Broderick Davis of Scotlandville (13.78), also the winner of the state indoor.
“He exploded onto the scene at the end of his freshman year,” Accardo said. “He was smooth and could catch up late during the race.”
Burks qualified for his first state indoor meet in 2025 and was third in his specialty with a time of 8.31 seconds, an improvement over his preliminary time of 8.45
The momentum carried to the outdoor season, where Burks truly blossomed.
With the Blue Jays competing for the team title – getting edged out by Catholic-Baton Rouge 61-60 – Burks nipped state indoor champion Zion Smith of Airline 13.62 to 13.95 for his first state championship.
Burks had taken over the nation’s top time in the 110 hurdles event among sophomores with a time that was coming into view of state composite leaders Derrick Saulsberry of Thibodaux and Ubeja Anderson of Eunice (13.72).
He came back to win the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.18, edging Haughton’s Joseph Encinas (38.80), Scotlandville’s Dylan Evans (38.98), and New Iberia’s Conner Stewart (38.98).
“I remember walking in there that day feeling like I had something to prove,” Burks said of the 110 hurdles race. “The top guy (Smith) that I had to beat had beaten me indoor at the state championship. I felt like I had to have a chip on my shoulder when I walked in. I stayed focused on my race to beat everybody.”
Jesuit’s football season produced a 6-6 record with an appearance in the Division I select regional playoffs against Teurlings Catholic.
Burks enjoyed a career-best year with 34 receptions for 615 yards (18 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff for another score.
Accardo knew the sweep of the two hurdles races at the ’25 state outdoor championships would continue to motivate Burks to reach even greater heights.
“Those were huge jumps,” he said. “We’ve talked since then. If we wanted a chance at winning indoors, he was really going to have to work on that start. It doesn’t matter how fast you are in the second half of the race because it’s already over. He made a conscious effort to really work on that.
“That can be a scary thing for a hurdler to get better at that start,” he said. “It can throw off the timing for a lot of them. Just being a cool, calm kid and how smooth he is athletically, it lent itself to a faster start and was able to handle it a lot better than we anticipated.”
Burks had enough time to recover from a 12-game football season to prepare for indoor track, where his top priority was to finish a 60-meter hurdles race in less than eight seconds.
By the time the state indoor was scheduled, Burks was primed for a breakout performance. He ran his first sub-8.0 race in the preliminaries (7.93) but remained unfazed by the time.
“I didn’t feel it was the best thought I could have done,” he said.
He saved such an effort for the final.
Burks registered a school record time of 7.88 seconds for his first state indoor title and third straight, dating to the outdoor championships. He defeated Scotlandville’s Fayden Brown (8.16).
“I went back to the finals and got a 7.88 and felt really good about it,” he said. “One thing I did improve on was my lead leg. I can still improve on is my speed in between the hurdles.”
Burks was four-tenths shy of the state composite record of 7.84 by Davis.
“We’re trying to find more events to put him in,” he said. “He’s helped us get second outdoors and now second indoors. I’m excited to see what he can do. How much more can he get out of this? It was kind of cool to be around someone (at state indoors) that’s clicking like that. He’s just a real nice kid and not really bothered by much. That lends itself well for that event.”
Burks, whose indoor hurdles time ranks in the top 30 nationally, also ran a leg on the 4×400 relay for the Blue Jays, who were second to Catholic High for the team title, 77-38.
“It kind of lets me know where I’m at,” Burks said of a successful indoor season. “Having this good of an indoor season, I feel really good. It lets me know that I’m on the right track. That I’m progressing.
“Coming to Jesuit in the eighth grade, I never thought I would do track until I actually did it,” said Burks, who has gained recruiting interest from LSU and Cincinnati in track. “Now looking at it, I could go to college for track and football, too.”