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Northwest star leaves behind championship legacy

By Paul Sokoloski

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Tyler Burger was as good as gold for Northwest while finishing first in the PIAA boys track and field 300 hurdles, giving him four PIAA medals this season and seven state medals over his career. Burger also finished with a state silver medal in the 110 hurdles to go along with the 13 District 2 championship medals he accumulated throughout his career.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_tylerburger.jpg.optimal.jpgTyler Burger was as good as gold for Northwest while finishing first in the PIAA boys track and field 300 hurdles, giving him four PIAA medals this season and seven state medals over his career. Burger also finished with a state silver medal in the 110 hurdles to go along with the 13 District 2 championship medals he accumulated throughout his career.

For all the care-free fun Tyler Burger enjoyed throughout his highlight-reel high school career, a sense of emptiness began to bother him at the end.

After all the District 2 gold medals he won and the array of PIAA honors he earned while clearing just about every hurdle for Northwest, none of them stamped him as the best in the state.

He wound up saving his best for last.

In his final individual high school event, Burger brought home that elusive state gold medal, barely nosing his way to victory in the PIAA Class 2A 300-meter hurdles.

“It meant a great deal to me,” Burger said. “I put all my time and effort into track and field.

“It feels great to leave with something.”

He left with that gold among his four state medals during his senior season, a collection of district titles throughout his career and the legacy of finishing as the best track and field boys athlete in Northwest history.

But it wasn’t simply his ability to finish fast and with a flourish that made Burger the Times Leader Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

It was more the way he carried a magic touch wherever he appeared, hopping from one event to the next with uncanny ease while leaving a trail of success wherever he appeared.

For example, Burger gave up his usual high jump competition at states to run the 1,600-meter relay, and helped that team earn a sixth-place PIAA medal. It put an electrifying finish on a PIAA weekend where Burger won his elusive gold medal in the 300 hurdles, a silver in the 110-meter hurdles and sixth-place state medals in the Class 2A long jump and as part of that 1,600-meter relay.

“The one thing with Tyler, he wants to get other kids to states and experience states with him,” Northwest coach Todd Culver said. “The type of kid he is, he thought that would be more fun.”

It seems enjoying the moment was the strength of Burger’s game.

After being edged out of a district gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles for the first time in four years (he finished second), Burger led the countdown and leap off the medal stand, then easily chatted up other competitors in the district field as if the difficult defeat didn’t disturb him a bit.

“He likes to compete,” Culver said. “The most important thing to him is not necessarily winning. It’s competing.”

No wonder Burger wanted to take his buddies along for his magic carpet ride, after leading the Rangers to three straight Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 titles before they settled for second this season in a rebuilding year.

“I’d rather have my team than be a loner,” Burger, the son of Bill and Tracy Brown of Shickshinny, said. “I said it’s what I’d like to do, have my team go to states. We did rather well at districts, got to states and gave it our all.”

Still, he seemed to be alone at the top for most of his career.

Burger won three District 2 gold medals in both the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, but was regularly first or second in the high jump and long jump events.

Culver tells the story about taking Burger to an indoor event, which he entered without working on his steps for the high jump.

“He said, ‘Ahh, I’ll be fine,’ ” Culver said. “And he went out and did a 6-4 (jump). He really works hard, because he wants to get to that next level. He wants to be the leader of the team.

“But natural ability plays into it a little bit, too.”

The next step for Burger will be college competition, as he heads to Lock Haven to run track and field later this summer.

Chances are, he’ll find a way to keep smiling and succeeding at that level, too.

“I’m pretty much just another guy,” Burger said. “I don’t like when people raise me up above anyone else. My buddy Zach Burgess, we always joke about it. If I’m getting hype, I like to raise other people up with me.

“I’d like to think of myself as level-headed.”

Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski