Thomas College track and field standout Emma Burr has qualified for the Division III national championships and will compete this weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — Sitting in a deck chair under a welcomed sun, Emma Burr reflected on making history for the Thomas College women’s track and field team.

“Winning NACs was definitely a goal,” said Burr, a freshman and Maine Central Institute graduate. “A goal of mine was to go to nationals, but I didn’t think that I would do it my freshman year. I’m hoping I can do it each year after this.”

Burr has dominated the competition this season and this week will become the first Terrier to compete in the NCAA Division III track and field championships.

Burr led the Terriers to their first outdoor women’s title in the North Atlantic Conference championships. She set NAC records in the 100-meter dash, the 200, 100 hurdles, triple jump and the pole vault at the conference meet in New York last month.

The D-III nationals run Thursday-Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“It’s really for the experience of the future, I’m not putting any (pressure) on myself,” said Burr, the NAC track and field athlete of the year. “I’m going in to have fun and compete with all these great athletes. I’m just going to try to (set new personal records).”

Burr won several indoor and outdoor titles while competing at MCI. Last season, Burr won the 100 hurdles (14.77), 300 hurdles (44.82) and the 200 (25.51) at the Class C championships. She set state records in both hurdle events.

Thomas head coach Ian Wilson said he worked hard to recruit Burr.

Thomas College track and field member Emma Burr holds medals she’s earned while competing this season. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“Immediately, I knew this was a kid who would run nationals for us,” said Wilson, the NAC coach of the year. “I wasn’t sure it was going to be her freshman year, but I knew she was a kid that would help elevate the program… I started recruiting her junior year. I was sending letters and postcards, going to track meets all throughout her senior year, too. Once she decided she was going to Thomas, I was going to track meets, so I could just watch her and see how she moved, to see where we could make some gains and see where she was already proficient, where we could just maintain those areas.”

Wilson added that Burr’s work ethic, coupled with her love for the sport, helped her break 15 indoor and outdoor school  records in one year.

“In hurdles and sprints, she was already very, very good,” he said. “It was important to maintain that ability, maybe make some improvements if we could. In the jumps, she was just so new to them, and the throwing events, where she didn’t have that technical expertise. We’re giving her more feedback on the more technical events. She’s so meticulous, she was going off to the field house and working on those on her own time.”

Burr acknowledged she is most comfortable running the 200.

“I feel most confident in the 200-meter, because I’ve always done that event, and it hasn’t changed from high school to college,” Burr said. “I’ve never felt nervous about it. It’s 200 meters, it’s a hard sprint. It’s not necessarily my best event, but I’m always like, ‘I’m going to rock this (event).’ The event I’m most scared of, it used to be high jump, but I feel I’m starting to get a breakthrough in that. (The hardest) is probably javelin. Sometimes, I have a great day, sometimes it’s just awful. There’s a very high ceiling and a very low floor.”

Maine Central Institute’s Emma Burr competes in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2023 Class C championship meet in Augusta. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Burr is constantly putting in the work, even going so far as to set up trash cans in hallways to work on her jumps. Then there’s how she maneuvers from class to class.

“I know I look crazy (practicing),” Burr laughed. “One time, I was going up some stairs and I was (working on) sprinting form. There was a janitor (that walked by and saw), and I went, ‘I’m so sorry about that.’ Sometimes while going to class, I would work on three-stepping. I know I look crazy, but I don’t care. It’s going to make me better.”

Burr is one of several athletes from central Maine schools who are headed to nationals. Colby College is sending nine athletes: Levi Biery (400 hurdles), Gordon Doore (1,500), Erin Daugherty (100 hurdles, 4×100 relay), Kaitlyn Ewald (4×400 relay), Sade Greenidge (4×400), Fiona Mejico (400 hurdle, 4×100 and 4×400), Kristina Pizzi (4×400), Simone Waheed (4×100), Haley Wims (4×400) Tally Zeller (alternate) and Olivia Doherty (alternate).