BUTLER TWP — Butler indoor track standouts Guinness Brown and Byron Manchester go through a lot of trouble in setting records — only to break them themselves.

At least, that's the plan.

“Break and re-break,” Brown said of the marks. “That's what I strive to do.”

“I want to set the bar so high ... not that I don't want anybody to reach it, just make it a really special thing to do,” Manchester said.

Brown, a junior sprinter, and senior hurdler Manchester have combined to be part of six current Golden Tornado indoor track records.

Brown owns records in the 60, 200 and 400 meters. His time of 7.14 seconds in the 60-meter dash tied the record set by Doug Moran in 2007. His marks of 22.65 seconds in the 200 and 50.70 seconds in the 400 snapped the marks of 22.82 and 50.99 set by Josh Dumbaugh in 1999.

“Guinness has so much natural ability and the desire to be great,” Butler boys track coach Mike Seybert said. “He's a sprinter who runs everything from the 60 through the 800 meters.

“You just don't see that.”

Manchester set the school's 60-meter hurdle record of 8.54 seconds last season. The previous record of 8.69 was set by Dylan Swidzinski in 2016.

“Byron is in the mix when it comes to the best in the state,” Seybert said. “We had a lot of great athletes miss out on last spring's (outdoor track) season.

“Byron's a senior. This is his time. He wants to leave his mark.”

Brown and Manchester both ran legs on school-record setting 4x200 and 4x400 meter relay teams last indoor season. They joined Brayden Young and Isaiah Seybert in running a 1:31.44 in the 4x200, snapping the mark of 1:31.60 set by Moran, Fred Pinto, Casey Piper and Mason McLaughlin in 2007.

Brown, Manchester, Alex Karenbauer and Seybert ran the 4x400 in 3:28.53 last season. The previous mark of 3:31.82 was set by Cade Gratzmiller, Ryan Marcella, Noah Beveridge and Jake Wolfrum in 2018.

“Our relays should be something this year, too,” Manchester said. “We lost Isaiah, but Presley Ornelas is a junior and he's insane the way he works out. He could be the one to break my records.

“Keep improving the times. That's the name of the game.”

Brown agreed.

“I always want to beat my personal record,” he said. “I'll focus on the 200 and 400 meters eventually. Those are probably my best events.”

Neither has been slowed down much in terms of training despite the cold weather, snow and temporary shutdown of high school winter sports.

“When it's warm enough, I'll go down to the outdoor track (at the high school) and run,” Brown said. “When it's cold, I have a treadmill at home I do a lot of running on and I've got dumbbells at home I can use for weightlifting.

“It's a bit challenging, but you don't want to fall behind.”

Manchester said he works on form and technique at home.

“I have my own hurdle stuff I set up in the garage,” he said. “I'll do some stretching over them, maybe a walk-through. I'll run and jump a little bit, but it's hard to find enough room for that.”

Manchester has extra motivation for this indoor season, in addition to breaking his own records.

He was ranked ninth in the state in hurdles going into the Pa. meet, but took ill with a severe case of strep throat days before the state competition.

“My fever was near 106 ... I didn't move for a few days, just laid in bed,” he said. “I got cleared to compete at the state meet that same day — on my birthday.

“I placed 18th. I felt like I should have been in the top 10. Am I more motivated now because of that? 100 percent.”