Tanner Dowling-Burnett had a lofty goal at the start of his senior track and field season in 2023: to break the “unbreakable” record. Or so the top boys’ 4x100-meter relay mark in Manhattan High history was purported to be.
He had another objective, too: to win his first gold medal at the state meet.
Dowling-Burnett — along with Dante Walters, Charles Morgan, and Ethan Samenus — accomplished both in the same race on May 27. Later in the day, he added an individual gold in the 400-meter dash along with a runner-up spot in the 200-meter dash.
His performance led the Indians to a third-place team finish at state and earned him the title of The Mercury’s 2023 Spring Male Athlete of the Year.
Manhattan’s sprints coach, Rod Robison, told Dowling-Burnett during his sophomore season that his predecessor had called the previous 4x100 record of 41.97 seconds set in 2014 “unbreakable.”
But then, Dowling-Burnett, Walters, Morgan and Samenus, in the last relay race they ever ran together, broke the unbreakable, turning in a time of 41.81 seconds.
“Once we did that, I told (Robison) that he can retire now, and he can say the same thing,” Dowling-Burnett said.
Not only did that set a new school mark and earn them a gold medal, but it was also the 10th-fastest time in Kansas high school history.
Dowling-Burnett ran the final leg of the race. When he received the baton from Walters, he was “neck-and-neck” with Olathe North’s Jason Parrish, the younger brother of Kansas State cornerback Jacob Parrish. Within moments, though, he had outpaced Parrish and begun to smile. He already knew. Not only was the top spot on the podium theirs, but as long as he didn’t trip over his own feet, so was the record.
“We saw the time, and as soon as I got off the track, the three guys were right there, hugging me, tackling me,” he said. “We were all over the place. It was awesome. The best feeling ever.”
Less than an hour later, Dowling-Burnett took to the starting blocks again, this time for the 400-meter dash. Ironically, despite being his best individual event, Dowling-Burnett said he hates it.
That is, until he crosses the finish line.
Dowling-Burnett won the state 400-meter dash with a time of 49.24 seconds, which beat out Hayes Miller of Mill Valley by .37 seconds. Four hundred meters may be “a long way to sprint,” as Dowling-Burnett put it, but man, if he’s not good at it.
However, what few people knew — not even his coaches or teammates — was that at both the regional and state meets, Dowling-Burnett was dealing with a hamstring injury sustained at the Centennial League meet.
At times, it hurt to walk, and his doctor advised him to give up running the rest of the season. Dowling-Burnett admitted to being nonplussed at that counsel, but the thought of sitting out the last two meets of his high school career was too much to bear.
“I just had to tough it out,” he said. “I just kept telling myself the 4x100 still hadn’t done its job, and it’d only be hurting the other guys if I didn’t go.”
Now that the season is over, Dowling-Burnett is in physical therapy, recovering from the injury. He may be a bit behind where he would have been in the process of convalescence had he heeded his doctor’s advice, but it’s a little hard to complain with three state medals in hand, with two of them being gold.
While his time representing Manhattan is complete, Dowling-Burnett’s sprinting career is far from over. In the fall, he will head to Cloud County Community College, where he will compete for the Thunderbirds and build his skills for the next two years.
After that, he hopes to transfer to an NCAA Division I school, preferably Kansas State or Oklahoma. His reasons for wanting to become a Wildcat are, perhaps, obvious, K-State being the hometown program. And as for the Sooners, well, he comes from a family of Oklahoma fans, and it’s his “dream school.”
Beyond his college career, he has plans to, at the very least, participate in the U.S. Olympic trials, with the goal of representing the country on a world stage. But, having already looked at the times of those against whom he’d compete, he knows he has a lot of work to do.
He’s no stranger to the benefits of putting in the time and effort, though. While he started running track in 7th grade, it wasn’t until his senior year of high school that he quit basketball to focus on indoor track training during the offseason.
That experience helped him to improve his conditioning and technique, and the payoff was noteworthy. He went from failing to qualify for state in any individual events and taking eighth in the 4x400-meter relay as a junior, to coming home with three top-two medals at state as a senior.
Aside from his own work — as well as the investment and support of his coaches and family, for which he expressed tremendous gratitude — Dowling-Burnett also attributes a portion of his success to another source.
He has an 8-year-old nephew who adores him, and he grew up as the oldest in a neighborhood full of younger kids who thought he was the cat’s pajamas. The desire to be a positive role model for them has been an irreplaceable motivation for him.
“I knew they were going to look up to me and see how I would do growing up,” Dowling-Burnett said. “Without all of them, I don’t know what I would have done.”
As he stood in K-State’s Memorial Stadium, reflecting on his high school career with his four state medals dangling from his neck, Dowling-Burnett summed up his senior-year accomplishments in an Indians uniform succinctly.
“It was awesome,” he said. “(Winning at state) was my goal since freshman year, and a dream I didn’t think would come true. And now, I’m here.”
THE MERCURY’S ALL-FLINT HILLS SELECTIONS
How we made our selections
We chose athletes from those who qualified for state in their respective sports. We considered coaches’ recommendations, statistics and post-season success.
Baseball
First Team
Kyler Horsman, senior, Manhattan
Ian Luce, senior, Manhattan
Jaxon Vikander, senior, Manhattan
Keenan Schartz, senior, Manhattan
Hayden Oviatt, senior, Wamego
Thomas McIntyre, junior, Wamego
Pruitt Nowlin, junior, Wamego
Ethan Burgess, senior, Rock Creek
Daegen Vinduska, junior, Rock Creek
Second Team
Ian Bluemel, senior, Manhattan
Tyler Gagnon, senior, Manhattan
Chase Cottam, senior, Wamego
Maddox Ibarra, senior, Rock Creek
Ryker Zoeller, sophomore, Rock Creek
JT Ross, senior, Rock Creek
Dalton Whitworth, senior, Rock Creek
Bryton Reves, senior, Wabaunsee
Landon Schreiber, junior, Blue Valley
Honorable Mention
PJ Hughes, senior, Manhattan
Jake Wolcott, junior, Manhattan
Cody Mayer, sophomore, Wamego
Lane Jeanneret, senior, Wamego
Logan Sturdy, senior, Rock Creek
Drew Becker, sophomore, Rock Creek
Eli Harmison, sophomore, Riley County
Brock Bergman, senior, Blue Valley
Boys’ Track
First Team
Tanner Dowling-Burnett, Manhattan, 1st in 4x100-meter relay, 1st in 400-meter dash, 2nd in 200-meter dash
Ethan Samenus, Manhattan, 1st in 4x100-meter relay
Dante Walters, Manhattan, 1st in 4x100-meter relay
Charles Morgan, Manhattan, 1st in 4x100-meter relay
Aaron Newcomer, Manhattan, 3rd in high jump
Collins Elumogo, Manhattan, 2nd in triple jump, 12th in long jump
Sam Molt, Manhattan, 3rd in javelin
Mason Herzog, Wamego, 1st in 4x800-meter relay, 1st in 4x400-meter relay
Emery Wolfe, Wamego, 1st in 4x800-meter relay, 3rd in 800-meter run, 1st in 4x400-meter relay
Harrison Cutting, Wamego, 1st in 4x800-meter relay, 2nd in 800-meter run, 1st in 4x400-meter relay
Jonathan Cutting, Wamego, 2nd in 400-meter dash, 6th in 200-meter dash, 1st in 4x400-meter relay
Brady Stegman, Wamego, 1st 4x800-meter relay, 7th in 3,200-meter, 9th in 1,600-meter run
Yanci Spiller, Rock Creek, 2nd in triple jump
Second Team
Vincent Malone, Manhattan, 5th in high jump
Andrew Hildebrand, Wamego, 5th in shot put, 10th in discus
Sam Pettay, Wamego, 5th in triple jump
Slade Smith, Wamego, 7th in high jump
Trevor Christensen, Rock Creek, 7th in pole vault
Jayden DeWalt, Valley Heights, 7th in pole vault
Lane Loiseau, Frankfort, 4th in 100-meter dash
Ty Smith, Frankfort, 5th in pole vault
Logan Schanks, Blue Valley , 8th in discus
Honorable Mention
Tyler Durtschi, Manhattan, 10th in pole vault
Tyler Vrbas, Manhattan, 11th in long jump
Cooper Sturm, Manhattan, 11th in 800-meter run
Lucas Holdren, Manhattan, 14th in 3,200-meter run
Andrei Mazin, Manhattan, 16th in 4x800-meter run
Brody Vest, Manhattan, 16th in 4x800-meter run
Kaiser Wymer, Manhattan, 16th in 4x800-meter run
Aidan Hilton, Manhattan, 16th in 4x800-meter run
Zyrain Frizzell, Wamego, 10th in triple jump
Harper Lull, Wamego, 9th in long jump
Cody Sharp, Riley County, 10th in 4x800-meter relay
KJ Davis, Riley County, 10th in 4x800-meter relay
Jace Woodard, Riley County, 10th in 4x800-meter relay
Owen Miesner, Riley County, 10th in 4x800-meter relay
Logan Gray, Valley Heights, 12th in 4x800-meter relay
Lawson Stryker, Valley Heights, 12th in 4x800-meter relay
Royce Ekstrum, Valley Heights, 12th in 4x800-meter relay
Caden Parker, Valley Heights, 12th in 4x800-meter relay
Tyrel Wagner, Valley Heights, 13th in shot put
Kaison Bigham, Valley Heights, 14th in discus
Hayes Hall, Blue Valley, 14th in 4x800-meter relay
Trace Sump, Blue Valley, 14th in 4x800-meter relay
Nate Irvine, Blue Valley, 14th in 4x800-meter relay
Skyler Zoeller, Blue Valley, 14th in 4x800-meter relay
Boys’ Golf
First Team
Talon White, junior, Wamego, 7th at state
Cash Foltz, junior, Wamego, 8th at state
Spencer Hecht, junior Wamego, 10th at state
Jackson Powers, freshman, Manhattan, 10th at state
Second Team
Tate Reid, sophomore, Manhattan, 22nd at state
Regan Kueker, freshman, Wamego, 21st at state
Gannon Couture, junior, Wamego, 27th at state
Kaleb Winter, senior, Wamego, 28th at state
Honorable Mention
Miles Braxmeyer, junior, Manhattan, 38th at state
Kaiden Siebert, senior, Manhattan, 44th at state
Cade Cochran, freshman, Manhattan, 46th at state
Gage Hull, junior, Manhattan, 54th at state
Eli Oliver, senior, Wabaunsee, 31st at state
Wyatt Wurtz, senior, Wabaunsee, 58th at state
Parker Holthaus, senior, Wabaunsee, 76th at state
Zach Frank, senior, Wabaunsee, 81st at state
Luke Wertzberger, senior, Wabaunsee, 87th at state
Ryan Schutter, senior, Wabaunsee, 90th at state
Boys’ Tennis
Drake Karr, junior, Manhattan
Landon Ott, junior, Manhattan
Jack Spiegel, sophomore, Manhattan
Jackson Byerly, senior, Manhattan
Michael Hwang, junior, Manhattan
