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10/08/2009
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
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from the Morning Sentinel
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All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
READFIELD -- Her parents make all the meets, which isn't always easy. And they chat with her at least twice a week, which is always easy.
"And when she has a homecoming dance we head down there to see what she's wearing," Sue Burr said of her daughter, Taylor, a senior at Maranacook Community High School. "You can't always count on the kids to take pictures. So when she goes to a prom, we go down to make sure we take a good picture. It's all part of the experience."
The experience is certainly unique.
Burr grew up in the small fishing village of Addison, which is along the coast near Jonesport.
"It's very, very, very small," Taylor said.
"We don't even have a grocery store here," Sue added.
As she grew older, Burr expressed an interest in attending a high school elsewhere. She said the school in Addison -- Narraguagus High School -- was too small.
"It just wasn't for me," she said. "They didn't have what I was looking for."
Burr looked at a few places, including Ellsworth, before coming to Readfield, where she lives with Maranacook track coach Ronn Gifford and his wife, Mary Denison.
"She is middle daughter of my wife's best friend," Gifford said. "She came down here and we invited her to live with us. It's been a big change. The thing that has been most impressive, as Mary and I sit back now, is that a lot of people would look at it and say, 'wow, you took on a teenager without any kids of your own, wow.'
"Yeah, it's been a change, but to see her give up everything she knows and to move here and live with two practically strangers, is amazing. She didn't know anything. Nothing was familiar. We like to say she is our domestic exchange student. She's done just an amazing job. She adjusted really well."
New surroundings. New school. New home.
It was all an adjustment for Taylor.
So, too, was her role with the Black Bears, which never changed in her four years.
In her freshman and sophomore seasons, Burr ran behind Jenny Monsulick.
"Running with Taylor was great," Monsulick said. "She pushed me and you could tell she was going to be a great runner."
When Monsulick graduated -- she now attends Bates College -- Burr expected to become the team's top runner for her junior year.
However, expectations changed that year thanks to a freshman named Abby Mace.
"Falling behind Abby and Jenny, it was disappointing at times," Taylor said. "I'd like to beat them, but it's friendly competition, and you also know you have someone to push you. I thought that I'd be the No. 1 on the team after Jenny left, which was exciting. I had heard about Abby and that she was coming up from middle school. I heard she was pretty good, but I definitely underestimated how good she was."
Mace made an immediate impact, sweeping the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B, Eastern B and Class B state titles.
Burr's dream to become the team's No. 1 runner never materialized.
"She's matured a lot over the last four years," Maranacook cross country coach Rosalea Kimball said. "She has come to terms with the fact that she is not the No. 1 kid on the team. I remember her commenting to me before Abby came up to high school level, and she said, 'She's going to be a freshman and she will beat me as a junior.'
"She was anticipating that. It was a little tough."
Still, Kimball hails Burr, the team's lone senior, as a leader and the consummate team player in what can be a sport based on individuality.
"She's always realized that even at No. 2 she is a key part of the team," she said. "She's super-tough mentally. She's always worked extremely hard."
Burr said there some advantages to running second, even if she could run No. 1 at some other schools.
"It's frustrating at times not being No. 1, but at the same time I've always had someone who pushed me," she said. "Sometimes at No. 1, you are just running by yourself and there's no one to push you. Besides, it's good for the team. It's been a good experience."
Her mother agreed, although she acknowledged it hasn't always been easy.
"It's been a challenge, obviously," said Sue, who is in constant communication with Ronn and Mary. "Having her in another part of the state, it's tough. But it's been something that's been a good experience for her."
Added Taylor: "My mom and I are close. We talk every other night. She and my dad come to all my meets, which is amazing. It's three hours away. It's a long way to go. It's just so amazing. We're all very close."
Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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