Jul 1, 2002 By Jim Downey 5 min read

An unexpected duo has paired together after a round about trip out of Fayette County to lead the fortunes of the running programs at Warren County (Va.) High School. Mike Tanner, a Uniontown Area graduate, and Jeremy Burnworth, a Laurel Highlands’ alum, somehow managed to land jobs in the same school system, and now the future of the Wildcats’ cross country and track programs appear to be moving in the right direction.

Tanner was one of the county’s better runners in his day, though he considered himself a better runner on the track than in cross country. He did advance to the state cross country meet as a junior and the WPIAL Championships in track.

A 1993 graduate, Tanner continued his academic and athletic career at Indiana University of Pa. where he advanced to the nationals in cross country as a freshman.

The 1998 IUP graduate landed his first teaching job in North Carolina before moving to Virginia where he just completed his third year of teaching fifth grade. Tanner was interested in coaching and grabbed the ring when given the opportunity this past spring.

“I always wanted to coach. I was a coach at the middle school, but when the (distance coach) job opened up I jumped on it,” Tanner explained.

A familiar face made Tanner’s transition into the high school ranks a pleasurable one. Tanner first encountered Emily Harrison, a sophomore, when he coached her in eighth grade. Harrison made Tanner proud as she won the Virginia State Class AA 3,200 title with a time of 11:22.

“She’s focused,” Tanner said of his distance standout. “She runs the 1,600, 3,200 and 3,200 relay, but there’s a rule down here if you run the two-mile you can only run in one other event.”

While Tanner watches his charges go around and around the track, Burnworth found himself coaching the quicker events. A middle distance runner in high school, the West Virginia University graduate – to his surprise – became the sprint, hurdle, jump and relay coach.

“I ran the 400 and 800 in high school,” the 1995 Laurel Highlands graduate said. “I ran one year at California University of Pa., but was injured and the coach moved on to another school. I transferred to West Virginia and ran the 800 for one season, but gave up running to concentrate on school.”

Armed with a master’s degree in education, Burnworth’s job search took him to the Warren County School system as well. He was hired to teach sixth grade language arts.

He was approached about coaching with the track team and eventually ended up working with the runner he knew a great deal about but didn’t know personally. He was, however, literally thrown into the fire in his first season.

“I was the sprint coach (the 100, 200 and 400) as well as the jump and hurdle coach. I know a lot about running, but nothing about jumping. It’s unbelievable how much work it was,” said Burnworth, who also coached the 1,600 and 400 relay teams.

The learning process for mentor and students went hand in hand for Burnworth. A case in point was first-year jumper Joseph Owens. Owens topped 6-4 in the season in his first year in the event.

“I never high jumped myself. We taught each other. He had a bad meet in the regional or he would have made the states,” Burnworth said. “I learned a lot about the sport itself. I learned technical things. The kids respond different. I need to develop more specific workouts for the kids.”

With success measured by results, Kyle Miller was the top finisher of Burnworth’s troops. Miller, a junior, finished fifth in the state in the 300 intermediate hurdles. The coach was also proud of the girls’ 1,600 relay team with three freshmen that reached the regional.

The girls team, a school around the size of Southmoreland, finished fifth in the state. According to Burnworth, the base of the coaching staff now built at a school not used to success will have to be continually expanded.

“Most sports here aren’t consistently good. It seems the kids are lazy. They don’t want to go out,” said Burnworth. “There’s a lot of kids on the street doing their thing. There’s no motivation. It’s a different situation than I’m used to.

“We have to do a lot of recruiting this year. The middle school program has about 120 kids. We’ll recruit through them. It’s snowballing a little bit. We should have a strong team in two, three years.”

Coming from Fayette County, there was a good chance both young coaches had a “Joe” influence their young careers. Such was the case for both young men. Tanner said Uniontown cross country and boys track coach Joe Everhart was the man who got him interested in the sport while both fellows acknowledge the impact Joe Thomas had in their running.

“Joe Everhart talked me into running. I started running my sophomore year. All my friends decided to go out,” explained Tanner. “I ran pretty good in my first race.

“It was nice to have both Joes (Everhart and Thomas) at the races. Don Norman helped me out those years, too. (Joe Everhart and Joe Thomas) both had a different outlook. I’ve taken a little bit of both their personalities.”

More to irony of the two landing coaching jobs together is Burnworth looked up to Tanner during high school.

“I’ve learned a lot from Mike. I looked up to him in high school, but never met him until now,” Burnworth said. “There wasn’t a lot of coaching for me through high school. Joe Thomas turned everything around for me in high school.

“I can continue running through coaching. It’s helped applying what I know from the classroom to coaching. I want to develop a ‘work or get out of here mentality.'”

Both Tanner and Burnworth are looking forward to working together this fall during the cross country season with Emily Harrison leading the way.

“We’re good friends,” Tanner said of Burnworth. “Uniontown and Laurel Highlands. Who would image that now?”