IRVING, Texas – East Carolina sprinter Royal Burris has been named the American Athletic Conference’s Men’s Track Athlete of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. The weekly nod is the first of Burris’ career.

The honor for Burris comes after a strong outing at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Meet in which the Charlotte native competed in two events. Burris earned a second-place finish in the 60m final in a season-best time of 6.79 seconds before taking the win in his signature event, the 200-meter dash, in a time of 21.28 seconds.

“We are very excited about the announcement of Royal Burris being selected as the AAC Athlete of the Week,” said Director of Track & Field Curt Kraft. “This young man is very deserving of this award. It’s always great to see the fruits of someone’s labor come to fruition. Coach Cheek has done a great Job of developing this young man into what he is today. The most important thing is the coach and athlete relationship that eventually leads to success. I also know that Royal Burris will not rest on his laurels, this award will motivate him even further to becoming a much better athlete in the conference. Royal is very focused on the big picture.”

Burris entered 2023 on the heels of a 2022 AAC Indoor Championship in the 200m and a second-place finish in the 60m and appears to have picked right back up where he left off.

The Pirates are back in action at the Kenneth Giles NSU Invitational and Liberty’s Darius Dixon Memorial Invite on Feb. 10-11.