By A.J. Truscello
TAMPA – His first sport was football. This is because his grandfather played it when he was his age. He was very competitive when it came to his speed.
“I’m faster than you”, he would say to his friends in middle school.
His friends would constantly race each other in the fields of his hometown of Midlothian, VA. This is where USF student and current track & field athlete Michael Bourne III found his love for the sport.
Photo of Michael Bourne III by A.J. Truscello
After discovering this new passion, Bourne found out he was the best at sprints and hurdles, which is his current position on the USF Track & Field team. Bourne explained why he decided to continue pursuing track at a young age and why he loves running.
“Running is relaxing. For someone who doesn’t do it, looking outside in, you’d kind of just see it as exercise, but after a certain point, you hit a flow state,” Bourne said.
The team goes through rigorous training almost every day to perform at the level that they perform at. After a two-and-a-half-hour practice, the team goes into weight training. While this would be taxing to the average person, Bourne believes training with his team makes it much easier.
“It’s very intense sometimes, but I feel like you get used to it because intensity lowers when you’re doing it with your friends,” Bourne said.
With the team’s busy schedule, it can be very difficult to find a balance between training, their studies and maintaining a social life. Bourne says he tries to give an even split between those aspects of his life.
“If one is too much, the other two will drop,” Bourne said.
Maintaining this balance is extremely important to Bourne, and is why he brings his schoolwork everywhere, makes time to go to church and even brings his Xbox on trips with the track team.
Bourne mentioned many of the important people in his life and the ones who inspire him, including his dad, his grandfather, his younger siblings and his girlfriend JJ Davila, a USF Health Sciences student.
Photo of JJ Davila by A.J. Truscello
Davila also has a busy schedule, so they try to find ways where they can see other, while still doing important tasks that they need to do.
“We try to find ways or places in our lives that overlap a little, so if he needs to study and I need to study, then we’ll try to study together,” Davila said.
Davila and Bourne have known each other for over two years and have grown closer in those years.
“He’s a very funny person, you know, what you see is what you get,” Davila said.
Another important person in Bourne’s life is his roommate and track teammate, Kendell Mosley.
Photo of Kendell Mosley by Michael Bourne III
Mosley explained how Bourne carries himself during meets and practices.
“He is very focused, he’s always locked in and he’s always ready to compete no matter what,” Mosley said.
The two met during freshman year and lived together for four years.
“I’d say we’ve definitely grown closer together. I consider him a best friend,” Mosley said.
Bourne is also finishing his Masters in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, while continuing his journey on the USF Track & Field team.
Bourne explained how nanotechnology will soon be used in every aspect of the medical field.
“I chose it because it is the future. Every single class that I have, they tell you that this is the next, exponential change within medicine,” Bourne said.
Because of this, Bourne is unique for pursuing a medical degree while being a college athlete.
“It’s very specialized doing something like that nobody has ever done before, like athletes don’t get science degrees,” Bourne said.
The USF Track & Field team is close to a World Championship qualifier, after winning three back-to-back Conference Championships. This brought up the question on if Bourne will continue to pursue track as a career or focus on his major.
“We’ll see,” he said, simply.