The Zachary Hall of Fame honors Zachary High and former Northwestern High School (1955 -1970) athletic greats. The Hall of Fame will welcome two inductees in a ceremony at the Zachary athletic complex at 6 p.m. Sept. 11.
The honorees will also be recognized Sept 12 at halftime of the ZHS v. Acadiana football game. Their pictures will be placed on display in the athletic center and their names inscribed on the Walk of Honor sign in front of Zachary High School.
Previous Hall of Fame members are invited to welcome the latest group of honorees. Coach David Brewerton refers to the two nominees in the 2025 class as "absolute studs."
This week's spotlight is on inductee Sean Burrell, a 2020 cum laude ZHS graduate, who played football for Brewerton and competed in track and field for coach Chris Carrier.
On the football field, Burrell played both offense (wide receiver) and defense (secondary) over his career but was also critical to special teams as a returner (punts and kicks) and as a punter. His fake punt touchdown on a bad leg in the 2018 playoffs is legendary in Zachary football lore.
The Broncos Hall of Fame night opponent knows Burrell very well after he put up double-digit tackles as a safety in the Broncos 26-14 road victory over the Wrecking Rams in a quarterfinal playoff matchup in 2018.
Burrell's efforts made him a critical component of state championship football teams in 2017 and 2018.
On the track, Burrell was, simply put, "blazing." As a freshman he was both an individual state champion in the 400-meter and a member of the 4x100m state champion relay team. His sophomore year, Burrell added five more state championships winning both the indoor and outdoor 400m (setting a Class 5A and Composite State Meet record), 110m hurdles, 200m and as a member of the 4x100m relay team.
He was an integral point scorer for the 2018 ZHS Boys Outdoor State Championship team. Sean continued his dominance in the 400m and 200m in 2019 with a state record in the 200 and third straight 4x100m relay state championship. In a COVID-shortened senior year Burrell won Indoor State Championships in the 60m hurdles, 400m, 4x200m relay and 4x400m relay. The 4x400m relay team Burrell anchored set a field house composite record of 3:22.68.
Sean was named the Advocate Star of Stars Track Athlete of the Year in 2018 and 2019, the Boys Gatorade Track and Field Louisiana Athlete of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and the ESPY Louisiana Male Athlete of the Year in 2020.
After graduation, Burrell took his considerable talents to LSU where he competed in track and field while earning a bachelor's degree in sports administration and is working on his master's degree.
For the Tigers, Burrell continued to make his mark as a two-time NCAA National Champion, two-time Olympic Trial participant, LSWA Men's Track Athlete of the Year, multiple times on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and member of the 2022 LSU National Championship Team.
He has posted top 10 all-time LSU performances in the 400m hurdles, indoor 400m and as a member of the 4x400m relay team.
Next week the second member of the 2025 class will be described. Here is a hint: He was also a "Ram hunter."