A 1979 graduate of Forestville Central School, she excelled at basketball. In three years of varsity play, she became the girls’ basketball program’s record holder for most points in a career, most points in a single game, best foul shooter and most steals in a season. She was team Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior and was a league and county all-star. Her #11 jersey was retired.
Miller played four years of softball for the Lady Hornets that included a .500 batting average as a freshman and all-star selections in 1978 and 1979.
Cheryl played two years of basketball at SUNY Fredonia, earning the Coach’s Award both seasons.
After college, first at SUNY Fredonia and then Slippery Rock, Cheryl became a serious runner, a very serious runner. The Buffalo News named her Western New York Runner of the Year in 1994 and three years later was again the Buffalo News Runner of the Year for females age 35-39. Burns won overall races in the 5K and 10K categories, setting records in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York. She was the first to win the Bemus Point Triple Crown (5K, 10K, 15K, in one year).
A few of her many notable wins include the Linda Yalem 5K, Lancaster Firecracker 10K, Wagon Hill Cross Country (NH) 5K and Seacoast (MA) 10K.
Cheryl wanted to add bike racing to her competitive edge and decided to enter the Mountain Stage Race in Ellicottville, NY. This 3 day event began with a 14 mile time trial, a 35 mile road race on day 2, and an 11 mile criterium race in the City of Olean on day 3 where Burns captured first overall. The Citizens Road race encompassed 35 miles where Burns took the Queen of the Mountain jersey 2 years in a row. This competitive biking era ended rather short in her 3rd year with a serious crash in a draft legal event and was another push to move toward the world of triathlon.
A triathlon is a challenging combination event consisting of a 750-meter open water swim, a 20.7-kilometer bicycle race and then a 5.7-kilometer run. It’s a sport that attracts only the most highly driven and motivated. It requires relentless commitment, hard work and discipline. In other words, it was made for Cheryl Burns.
She is a 6-time qualifier for USA National Triathlon and a 4-time qualifier for World Triathlon. She has earned podium spots in four USA Age Group National Championships. Burns was a fourth place finisher at the 2018 World Triathlon Champions held in Australia and a sixth place finisher at the 2022 World Triathlon Championships in Montreal. Most recently, Burns earned a 2023 National Senior Olympic Games Silver Medal in triathlon relay.
Other notable accomplishments in her sports career were WNBA tryouts with the Washington Mystics and Detroit Shock, a Top Court win at a Gus Macker tournament in Buffalo and winning the Grand Island Formula 1 Triathlon, a pair of sprint triathlons run back-to-back. She received the 1994 Chautauqua County Gold Medal Fitness Award for completing a 50K cross country ski run, 100-mile bike ride and a full marathon in the same calendar year.
Burns is the founder and director of Kick Cabin Fever Indoor Triathlon to combat cabin fever and seasonal affective disorder from 2010 to the present. In a 2010 newspaper article, she revealed that she came from a background in which depression, alcoholism and even drug use existed, but that she chose a healthier path. “Training and nutrition are my addictions,” she stated.
The competitiveness that fueled Cheryl since she was a child still “burns” white hot.
Cheryl resides in Jamestown, NY, is an Agricultural Science teacher at Cassadaga Valley Central School and is a personal trainer.
