Burns' Ethan Norris doing his best to improve state title chances
May 3—CHEYENNE — Hanging up his basketball sneakers in favor of indoor track shoes wasn't an easy decision for Ethan Norris.
Norris mulled a change in sports prior to his junior campaign at Burns, and ultimately decided to stay on the hardwood. He grappled with the move just as much this winter, but a runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles at the Class 2A outdoor state meet helped seal the deal.
"I love basketball, but I really love track," Norris said. "If I could run track 365 days per year, I would. It's not so much that I don't like basketball, it's that I love track."
The move was a good one for Norris. The senior placed sixth in the 55-meter hurdles at the Class 3A state indoor meet with a personal-best time of 8.58 seconds. He also cleared a personal-best height of 12 feet to finish ninth in pole vault.
Running indoor track allowed Norris to pick up where he left off last season in some events and be ahead of where he was in others.
"It felt great coming into this season already past where I was the season before," Norris said.
Running the 55-meter hurdles gave Norris more time to work on bursting out of the starting blocks. He describes himself as "not fast," and often the last boy to the first hurdle in the 110 hurdles. He was forced to improve his starts or get left in the dust indoors, Burns coach Cole Manlove said.
"The 55 hurdles don't leave as much room for him to make up for slow starts like he has outdoors," the coach said. "I wanted him to get to the point where he wasn't the last guy to the first hurdle. By the end of the indoor season, he was one of the first guys there and he was super hyped about that."
Big Piney senior Hunter Fisher was the only runner to finish ahead of Norris in the 110s at last year's state meet. However, Norris hasn't approached that event like a state championship is a foregone conclusion. Moving to the top step of the podium outdoors was part of his motivation to run indoor track. Norris also has gotten within shouting distance of Burns' school record in the 110s.
"He wants to be the guy who makes the record boards and be top three in all his events at state," Manlove said.
Last season was the first Norris thought he was good enough to wear his older brother Tyler's old Burns jersey. Norris has coveted it since he saw Tyler wearing it in a yearbook photo, and eventually found it tucked away at their house. He set it aside until he thought he had earned the right to wear the top Tyler last donned in 2018.
Norris wore the jersey during his state runner-up finish in the 110s and during the 300 hurdles preliminaries. He continues to wear the jersey during hurdles races this spring.
"(Tyler) said it was OK and passed it down to me," Norris said. "He said he found it in an old storage closet at school, and I think I'm more attached to it than he ever was.
"I did well in it at regionals and state, so I decided to keep it as my hurdles jersey full time."
Norris cleared 11 feet, 6 inches in pole vault to place third in Class 2A. He's already gotten over 12-6 in three meets this season after starting to keep his bottom arm extended once he puts the pole in the box, which allows him to have a more fluid motion going up to the bar than he had when he was bending his bottom arm on contact.
Norris could have had success continuing to do what he's always done but that's not in his nature, Burns girls coach Brooks Hoffman said.
"He knows this change is going to open bigger doors and help him accomplish bigger things," said Hoffman, who also coaches Burns' pole vaulters. "He's hungry to attack the next level, which is fun. His excitement is intoxicating to be around."
Burns is moving up to Class 3A for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. It's a level the Broncs are familiar with, but it's going to require even more work to succeed at that level. Norris is helping set the tone for Burns even though he won't be around when the move is made.
"He doesn't have senioritis," Manlove said. "He's still working just as hard and is bought into everything we're doing as he ever was. That sends a message to all of our underclassmen.
"We've got a really talented group coming up. When they see a guy as talented as (Norris) still working hard, they want to work hard, too."
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.
