Colorado University Athletics
Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Sprints/Hurdles
- Email:
- burke.bockman@colorado.edu
Burke Bockman has been with the Colorado Buffaloes as the sprints and hurdles coach since 2015.
Under his leadership, CU sprint and hurdle athletes have achieved remarkable success, setting eight school records, winning a conference championship, and earning multiple All-American honors. His athletes have produced 66 CU Top-10 marks across 26 events, highlighting the depth of talent he has developed.
Bockman's athletes have consistently excelled on the national stage. In 2024, Abbey Glynn earned first-team All-American honors in the 400-meter hurdles, setting a school record and finishing as the Pac-12 runner-up. Glynn also earned second-team All-American recognition in the indoor 400 meters, breaking the school record with a time of 51.77. On the men’s side, three athletes broke the 51-second barrier in the 400-meter hurdles, including Garrett Nelson and Cole Romig, with Romig posting a personal-best 50.36 to move to #3 all-time in program history.
The women’s 4x400 relay shattered a 28-year-old school record with a time of 3:30.97, while the men’s 4x400 relay qualified for the NCAA West Championships for the fifth consecutive year, the only Pac-12 program to do so. In total, Bockman's athletes set 27 new or improved top-10 marks and broke six school records during the 2024 season.
In his fourth season at CU, Gabby Scott broke both the indoor and outdoor 400-meter records, as well as the 400-meter hurdles record, and contributed to the women’s 4x400 indoor relay school record. Her season culminated in a national runner-up finish in the 400-meter hurdles and a seventh-place finish in the indoor 400 meters, marking the first national championship appearance for a CU 400-meter runner in more than 20 years. Duane McClurkin Jr. also captured the 2019 MPSF title in the 200-meter dash.
Throughout his tenure, Bockman has guided numerous athletes to conference success and national recognition. In 2017, Jaron Thomas became one of CU's top performers, clocking a sub-eight-second 60-meter hurdles indoors and excelling in both the 110- and 400-meter hurdles outdoors, finishing as CU’s leading scorer at the Pac-12 Championships.
Bockman made an immediate impact during his first year at CU, with Ana Holland setting school records in the 100 and 200 meters, while both the men’s and women’s 4x400 relay teams scored at the Pac-12 Championships. Several athletes, including Thomas, Holland, and Eileen Gehring, also qualified for regional competition.
Before joining Colorado, Bockman coached at Saint Martin’s University, mentoring the school’s first indoor and outdoor All-American, high jumper Mikel Smith, who also set conference records. He spent nine seasons at the University of Utah, where his athletes set 16 school records and qualified 31 times for the NCAA Championships, including 12 400-meter hurdlers. He also coached Utah’s only two All-Pac-12 athletes and guided competitors to five Mountain West Conference championships.
During his time at Colorado, Bockman has coached:
- 31 all-conference athletes across 19 events
- 95 NCAA qualifiers across 57 events
- 5 first-team All-Americans
- 2 second-team All-Americans
- 28 total All-American honors (including Honorable Mention)
The Decorah, Iowa, native was a three-time conference champion and a 13-time all-conference honoree at the University of Northern Iowa. He was an NCAA Division I qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400 relay, and qualified for the USA Championships from 2003–2006. Bockman holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Northern Iowa and a master’s degree in exercise and sport science from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, where he coached Olympian Andrew Rock to gold at the 2004 Olympics.
