The Road to the US Olympic Trials: The Two-Sport Star - UTRGV Athletics

Desirea Buerge is set to compete in the discus at the U.S. Olympic Trials June 18-19 at Oregon's Hayward Field. During the two weeks leading up to the event, we are posting a series of stories on Buerge in order to help celebrate her accomplishment and let fans get to know her better.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – "Well it's almost unheard of now."

That's what The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Track & Field Head Coach Darren Flowers had to say about graduate student Desirea Buerge being a two-sport student-athlete.

But for Buerge, competing year-round has long been the norm.

Participating in various sports came out of necessity for Buerge as she wanted to expand her horizons while growing up in a household that valued basketball first and foremost.

"If you don't play basketball, you don't play other sports," Buerge said. "That is how that went. If I didn't play basketball or didn't do other sports, I had to get another job, and that wasn't what I wanted to do."

It is a frantic pace Buerge has consistently kept and excelled at from her days at Webb City High School (WCHS) in Webb City, Mo. to four years at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) to two years at UTRGV.

While at WCHS, Buerge was a three-sport star in basketball, track & field and softball. Among her many accolades, she won the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4 Championship in the discus while taking silver in the shot put.

In basketball and softball, Buerge and her teammates finished runner-up in the MSHSAA Class 4 State Playoffs.

At MSSU, Buerge no longer played on the softball diamond but was still a top performer for the Lions in basketball and track & field.

On the hardwood, she averaged 19.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Second Team as a junior.

In the rings, Buerge graduated as the program record holder in the shot put (16.38 meters) and discus (55.54 meters) and was a four-time All-American, including three times in the discus and once in the shot put.

After transferring to UTRGV in 2019-20, Buerge was a force for the women's basketball team. She had eight double-digit scoring performances, including an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double against rival New Mexico State in the quarterfinal round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

Buerge didn't lose a beat when she moved over to throws in 2020-21. She set a program record in the discus with a throw of 58.90 meters at UTSA's Roadrunner Invitational on April 17 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Buerge also owns seven of the top 10 discus and two of the top 10 shot put throws in program history.

"There are not that many student-athletes that can do both very well," Flowers said. "Usually at this level you have to choose one because everybody is talented. If they're spending more time than you at that particular sport, then it's going to be really hard to focus."

In a continuous cycle of competition since high school, Buerge developed impeccable time management skills to excel as a multi-sport student-athlete with an assist from the athletic staff at MSSU.

"For them to have us come in and work on our study habits while we were out of season – to help us when we got into season – helped me to keep up with my academics even when I wasn't able to have a lot of time," Buerge said.

Her commitment and focus stand out and are admired by UTRGV throws coach Brad Foote.

"I've never had to have a talk with her about her academics because she already knew, 'hey this is how you do it,'" Foote said. "Which made it a lot easier to focus on track. As a two-sport athlete, I know there are some long days, but it just shows you that if you set your priorities straight, you can get it done and it becomes easier."

Buerge graduated from MSSU with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a pre-medical emphasis. She then earned her Master of Science in Health Sciences with a concentration in Nutrition before completing a minor in psychology at UTRGV.

For UTRGV Women's Basketball Head Coach Lane Lord, Buerge's dedication to athletics and her academics is the perfect embodiment of the message he preaches to his team.

"We say it all the time, 'you have to be a winner in the classroom before you can be a winner on the floor,' and she has definitely mastered that," Lord said. "She is a focused young lady that takes care of business and is very driven."

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