Butler County Sports Hall of Fame: Meet 2026 inductee Mike Seybert
Mike Seybert was not going to play a varsity sport in high school.
A broken arm changed his destiny.
“I played Legion and prep league baseball," Seybert recalled. “I suffered a badly broken arm sliding into third base at Pullman Park. I couldn't play anymore after that.”
But he could run.
Seybert was urged by friends to join Butler's cross country and track and field teams his senior year. The 1980 Golden Tornado graduate parlayed that year of running into a scholarship to Duquesne University.
He became a team captain and three-time all-conference runner with the Dukes. Seybert never left the sport and just began his 42nd year this spring as a high school track and field coach at Butler.
Now he's entering the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.
Seybert is one of seven inductees in the Class of 2026 along with Kelly Coffield, Brad Mueller, Jence Rhoads, Melinda Rhoads, Jeff Schnur and William “Bee” Thoma.
The induction ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. April 25 at Butler County Community College’s Founder’s Hall. Individual tickets ($35) or for tables of eight are available at butlersportshall.com.
“I love competition and just wanted to be the best runner I could be,” Seybert said.
He turned into one of the most successful track and field coaches in WPIAL history.
“After I graduated from college, I was invited back to Butler to help work with the runners,” Seybert said. “I went on the track and ran with them. I enjoyed that so much.”
So much so, he never left.
During Seybert’s coaching tenure, the Golden Tornado track program has won 23 WPIAL team championships (boys and girls combined), 89 individual WPIAL and nine individual state championships.
The indoor track program has produced 171 individual Western Pa. champions. Combined, Butler indoor and outdoor track teams have produced 256 individual state medalists under Seybert’s watch.
“It's far from just me,” Seybert said. “(Fellow track head coach) John Williams began working with the kids the same year I did.
“Jeff Renwick has been coaching with us for 30 years. We've had other coaches with us for 15 years or more. It's a hall of fame crew that's responsible for this award.”
Perhaps the program's crowning achievement occurred in 2022. Butler indoor and outdoor track both won the team state title that year. The indoor title was the first for a WPIAL squd in 71 years.
Seybert has also run 10 marathons, finishing with a time under 2:40 three times. One of those was at the Boston Marathon.
“We've kept coaching and our time with the kids has been fun over the years,” Seybert said. “To enter the Hall of Fame because of that fun and success … it's an honor and it's appreciated.”
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