By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
3. Remembering Mark Taylor
The Dec. 9 death of Mark Taylor rocked the city.
A well-loved family man, Taylor was big in area youth sports and the Taylors are a well-known family in the community.
A selfless go-getter, Taylor embodied the “go big or go home” motto and cared about nothing more than his family. In fact, he treated everyone around him, whether it was friends or visitors to his home, like family.
Though his tribute basketball game was cancelled Friday night, Taylor’s life was celebrated last weekend with a ceremony at Veteran’s Terrace Sunday.
Here’s the original story, which ran in the Dec. 19 edition of the Burlington Standard Press:
Lynn Taylor only calls family meetings to discuss important issues.
So on Sept. 8, when her sons Trent and Tell were home from college and daughter Teagan was home, Lynn organized this meeting so son Ty could Skype with the family from his military post in South Korea.
This wasn’t a meeting to go over table manners or household chores, it was in effect a meeting that would change the family forever.
Lynn and husband Mark Taylor stood in their Burlington home and informed their four children, ranging from ages 16 to 23, that Mark was suffering from cancer.
The esophageal cancer was already stage 4, and time was of the essence. But instead of wallowing and seeking pity, Mark stayed strong, Taylor Strong, when he spoke to his children.
“I will not be your detterant,” he told them with love. “I will be your motivator.”
It was this kind of selfless, caring attitude that embodied Mark, an athletic, hard-working father, coach and husband who was at his happiest when his family was happy.
“He wanted them to not stop what they were doing and remain on their path,” Lynn said Monday night. “Our children have done that well. I can’t fathom what they’re going through.”
Mark passed away only two months later, on the morning of Dec. 9, at the age of 50, exactly one week after coming home from the hospital for the last time.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, after enduring two surgeries and excruciating pain from fractures in his back, Mark softly told his wife, “I want to go home.”
“He was thrilled to be home,” Lynn recalled. “But he had very little time to enjoy it. It got rough right away. The hospice said it was a ‘fast and furious’ cancer.”
Ironically, the cancer took on the same personality as Mark, fast and furious, according to Lynn.
Mark lived life to the fullest whether he was running a marathon, driving across country for work, going on family vacations or pulling shenanigans from the sideline while coaching youth and traveling basketball.
A Platteville native, Mark was a five-sport athlete in high school. He was all-state in football and track and also played golf, basketball and baseball. Both Mark and Lynn played sports collegiately, so it’s no wonder their kids are athletically inclined.
The oldest sibling of four, including Lance (49), Beth (48) and Brad (46), Mark loved playing sports with his family growing up.
“Our mom was a musician, and our dad was into sports,” said sister Beth Reetz, who now resides in Burlington. “Mark was a phenomenal athlete. When he coached, he took kids all over the United States to play.”
Beth spent just about every day with her brother when he came home for his last week. She would walk him around the neighborhood, sometimes up to two miles. Mark stayed positive throughout, never letting cancer crush his spirit.
“He would spend all that time talking about how proud he was of his kids even though he was in horrible pain,” Beth said.
Despite Mark’s strength, Beth still can’t believe her big brother is gone.
“It was a devastating diagnosis,” she said. “I’m so proud of his wife and family. Lynn went into coach mode and was by his side non-stop. It brought me comfort knowing he was surrounded by so much love.”
Beth’s husband Dan was great friends with Mark and even worked with him at Ocean Spray in Kenosha.
The Taylors lived in Burlington, moved to Michigan and returned to Burlington for Ty’s senior year and have been here ever since, almost seven years now.
The Taylor and Reetz families go on vacations together up north and enjoy boating together. Mark loved to golf with Dan.
“All of our families are very close,” Beth said. “We miss him dearly. He had a strong personality. Mark had an opinion and let you know how he felt.”
– Read the entire story on www.myracinecounty.com.
4. Football column sparks debate in community
This column, which was posted Nov. 12 on the Sports Check Blog on www.myracinecounty.com, explored the history of the Burlington football program.
Here’s a snippet from the story, which generated 15 reader comments and made the coaching situation a hot topic for discussion:
For the fifth time in the past seven years, the Demons finished 4-5. In 2010, they were 3-6.
Disregarding 2007 and 2008 because they were in the Southeast, the Demons are a painfully mediocre 21-24 since rejoining the Southern Lakes Conference in 2009.
How did the Demons go from perennial conference champions to middle dwellers? It doesn’t make sense.
5. Girls tennis makes first state trip
The fall season was a very successful one for the Demons, and no story was more heart-warming than the rise of the Burlington girls tennis squad.
Rose Dolatowski’s bunch advanced to team state for the first time in school history. Here’s a snippet from that story, which was posted Oct. 21:
In Burlington, the high school volleyball teams dominate the headlines along with the football teams.
Winning state titles will bring your program notoriety and respect.
For decades, the Burlington girls tennis squad has been fighting for the same respect. Many girls came out for the team just for fun, and reaching sectionals was a long shot, let along state.
Until this year.
Last week, the squad made history, winning the WIAA Division 1 Badger sectional Oct. 9 and qualifying five girls for the individual state meet.
6. Josh Bird wins national wrestling title
Burlington sophomore Josh Bird had a magical freshman season.
He won the WIAA Division I state title at 132 pounds in March, but he was far from finished.
In July, he tried his luck at nationals. He didn’t disappoint. Here’s an excerpt from the July 18 article:
Bird won the 132-pound weight class at the USAW Cadet Greco Nationals at the FargoDome in Fargo, North Dakota Monday.
Bird was dominant in his weight class, winning every match by technical fall except one – which was a bye before his final three matches.
7. Little league wins another state title
The city of Burlington has become a youth baseball hot-bed.
Within the last five years or so, the little league program has produced champion after champion. Nationally televised games on ESPN mean Burlington’s program isn’t just big in the state, but in the entire country.
Here’s a breakdown from the article, which ran July 29:
Burlington Little League Majors All Stars became Wisconsin 2013 State Champions Friday night by defeating District 4 champion Reedsburg, 7-4.
The victory made it the third time in the past four years Burlington will represent Wisconsin in Little League Central regional tournament held in Indianapolis. Regionals are the final step prior to little league World Series held in Williamsport, PA.
During the state tournament held in Waupun, Burlington went 5-0 during pool play, with wins over Antigo 7-4, Reedsburg 11-1, Whitefish Bay 15-3, Appleton 8-4 (in extra innings), and Eau Claire 4-3 (in extra innings).
8. Hoopsters win third straight SLC crown
The Burlington boys basketball squad capped off an impressive run of the three straight years of Southern Lakes Conference dominance with a conference-clinching victory over Wilmot back in February.
Ty Dennis, Jake Reetz, Jimmy Penzel, Carson Biedrzycki and the gang used teamwork and talent to pull off yet another conference title.
Here’s a snippet from the original article, which ran Feb. 22:
Like in every close game this season, the Burlington High School boys basketball team saw itself ahead by a lot – and saw the lead dwindle to a little Friday night.
And like in every close game this year, the Demons found a way to close out the game, earning themselves a third straight Southern Lakes Conference title in the process.
Hosting Wilmot Friday with the outright title on the line, BHS jumped out to a 30-18 lead after the first half, and then held off a determined Panther rally for a 59-51 victory.
BHS finished the regular season 17-5 overall, and 13-1 in the SLC – two games ahead of Wilmot and four ahead of Waterford.
9. Girls soccer wins first-ever SLC title
The Burlington girls soccer team made history in 2013.
Along with a No. 3 seed in the playoffs, the squad enjoyed its first conference championship in school history.
Here’s part of the story, which ran May 30:
It was a historic win for the Burlington High School girls soccer team. Thursday’s 1-0 win over Lake Geneva Badger in the Southern Lakes Conference title game clinched the first SLC girls soccer title in BHS history.
“We were the only sport in the school that had never won a conference title, and we changed that tonight,” head coach Joel Molitor said after the game.
10. Falcons edge Demons in epic battle
Here’s our last best story of 2013:
Players lost their voices.
Eardrums popped. The Richter Scale may have been awaken with all the bleacher pounding.
Last Thursday’s sectional final between the Burlington and Westosha Central boys volleyball squads will go down as one of the most thrilling sporting events in school history.
The back-and-forth was enthralling coupled with what Burlington coach Tim Gesteland called the loudest gym he’s ever heard at a volleyball match.
Unfortunately for the Demons, a pulse-pounding fifth game, which was tied at 13-13 and allowed five match-point chances at victory, went awry with two critical points.
Tied 2-2 with the winner advancing to this weekend’s state tournament, the Falcons and Demons played to a 22-22 tie.
Nolan Rueter, who played his heart out in only his second game back from a severe ankle injury, attempted a spike but his body hit the net, giving Westosha a 23-22 lead.
Then, as it had done in the previous three games, the Falcons’ power was too much. Six-foot-eight powerhouse Glenn Karsten hammered home a potential kill, but Bennett Conrardy was in the right place for the dig.
However, the ball caromed right to a waiting Falcon at the net, and he tipped the ball just inches inside the out-of-bounds line for the winning point.
The 18-25, 25-17, 25-20, 18-25, 22-24 defeat had Burlington up 2-1 at one point. But the Falcons turned it on at the end.
-
-
-
-
-