RIMERSBURG — Denny Stewart has seen a lot in his nearly four decades as a track and field coach.

Perhaps his biggest thrill, however, is watching one of the smallest schools in the state post a winning record year after year.

After 36 seasons at the helm, Stewart retired in June from Union High School, both as the boys coach and as a health, physical and safety education teacher.

"It's always been around the kids," said Stewart, 59. "That's the one thing I regret about retiring. I really enjoyed it and I miss it. These guys took care of me and I took care of them."

Stewart had a great run of success, compiling a 191-133-6 record during his tenure, which began in 1974-75 after one year as an assistant coach.

The team achieved its first winning season under Stewart in 1982 and never had a losing season again. The Golden Knights went 172-89-4 during that span.

"That's says something about the kids. They get the credit, not me," said Stewart.

Since 1975, the Golden Knights boasted 27 district champions — but never a state champion.

"We had a lot of kids medal at the state meet," said Stewart. "It got to a point that when you were on Union's track, you expected to win.

"I never expected to win. I tell the kids to go out and do the best you possibly can. Some days will be good days, some days are bad days. With winning programs, it's sort of contagious," he added.

Due to personal reasons, Stewart stepped down after the first four meets this season, but he still had a vested interest in the team.

"There's was nothing more fun than watching these kids compete," said Stewart

Don Black, who has coached the Karns City boys team for the past 23 years, saw that first hand.

"I think the kids knew he had a genuine interest in them," said Black. "The way he coached and approached things, the kids knew he cared about them"

Stewart, a 1968 graduate of Union, was a running back for the Knights and a quarter-miler on the track team. He added golf as a senior because the season was in the spring.

He then attended Anderson (Ind.) College, where he was a javelin thrower by pure chance.

"A guy there threw the javelin toward me and I threw it back," said Stewart. "They said, 'You're a javelin thrower now.'"

He returned to Union as a teacher in 1973 and became heavily involved in coaching.

"I knew I always wanted to be in coaching," said Stewart, who credited a lot of his knowledge to Union coaches Rich Vidunas and Don Stemmerich. "Rich taught me a lot of stuff and I felt like he was the heart and soul of the school. Don was a tremendous person.

Stewart was an assistant junior high football coach in the early 1970s under Vidunas, an assistant junior high basketball coach and the head varsity football coach (1991-95).

"When I coached those sports, I had other coaches there," said Stewart. "With track, I couldn't go to anyone. I did a lot of research on it. Track, to me, is 80 to 90 percent mental. If you have any negative thoughts, it will show.

"I try to teach them things they see in life. Every day is not a bed of roses. Life is full of choices. Make it a hummer or a bummer."

One of Stewart's proudest moments was getting rid of the outdated cinder track and installing an all-weather track.

"That was my thing, the biggest thing I wanted, not just for the team but for the community," Stewart said. "A lot of people use that track."

With his children grown — daughter Jeanna, 28, is in banking and son Eddie is a sophomore at Penn State-Behrend who made the dean's list last year — Stewart and his wife Barb, a kindergarten teacher in the Karns City district, are looking for a little more downtime.

"I give her a lot of credit for putting up with me," said Stewart. "I'm very grateful for my wife."

Back in 1975, his first team went 1-7-1, but it still had some state-caliber athletes.

"Our 880-yard relay, we had three really good sprinters and we were third in the state and we missed a handoff," said Stewart.

That relay team was Joel Roland, Mark Rummell, Larry Montgomery and Lee Gearhart.

"These guys were fun to be around," said Stewart. "Here I'm a young guy and I'm only about three or four years older than Gearhart.

"It was exciting and it took off from there. "