Shupirates.com
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Since his junior year of high school, Seton Hall men cross-country’s tri-captain Tyner Orner has been chasing top finish times.
This year, the senior 8k and 10k runner is chasing something much different in his final season at Seton Hall—a career in accounting.
“I’ve been surrounded by accountants my whole life,” the Sinking Spring, Pa. native and accounting major said.
While Orner has been influenced by coaches and teammates on the track during his time at Seton Hall, he claims it was his parents that helped get him into the field.
“I took classes my parents took, I also took accounting in high school,” Orner said. “It came easy to me.”
Orner interned with KPMG over the summer and was even offered a full-time position which he says will start in Fall 2015.
Last season, Orner had his most decorated season of his career with the Pirates, including a 19th overall finish at the 6K Monmouth XC Kickoff, an 18th overall finish at the St. John's-Hofstra Fall Festival and a 21st place finish among all Division I runners at the 8K Delaware Invitational.
While Orner has found success on the track, his introduction to the sport years ago was much different than one would expect.
Orner’s main sport growing up was not cross-country, but soccer instead. It was not until he was approached by the Wilson High School cross-country coach in his sophomore year to come join the team.
“The coach pulled me aside because the team was losing a lot of people,” Orner said. “It was definitely a late decision, but one I’d make again.”
Fast forward six years later, Orner realizes his time in the sport and at Seton Hall will come to a close next spring, understanding he has gained just as much value off the track as he did on it.
“I’m going to miss the people of Seton Hall the most,” Orner said. “The connections I’ve made here is not something I’ll lose when I leave.”
David Heim can be reached at david.heim@student.shu.eduor on twitter @davidheim12. For complete coverage of Seton Hall athletics, follow @setoniansports.
