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University of Utah
at
NCAA Championship
Murphy Finishes Eighth at NCAA Cross Country Championships
11/18/2017 11:26 AM | Cross Country
Murphy earns All-America honors in her third sport at Utah.
LOUISVILLE – Grayson Murphy finished eighth at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning to earn All-America honors in her third sport at Utah.
"Couldn't be more proud of her," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "A senior in her final race representing her team and her university in the best possible way, we are super excited."
Murphy's eighth-place finish is the best finish for a Utah runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Murphy is the fourth NCAA cross country All-American at Utah, joining Jill Molen (1981), Cesla Bowman (1987) and Amanda Mergaert (2012).
Murphy was 26th at the 2-km split, moving up to 14th at the 4-km mark before finishing eighth. She was second among Pac-12 student-athletes.
"The lead group just went on a dead sprint out of the start shoot, kind of got a jump on her but she knew she couldn't go that fast that early," coach Kepler explained. "She got to 2000 meters and kind of caught her wind, caught her legs back and started to get her rhythm and just had that look in her eye that she was going to run down everyone ahead of her."
Murphy did not finish outside of the top eight this year. She finished second at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, second at the Wisconsin Invitational and fourth at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Murphy is also an All-American in both indoor and outdoor track. Murphy earned first-team All-America honors in the outdoor 3,000 steeplechase in 2017 and earned second team All-America honors in indoor in the 5,000.
Murphy transferred to Utah from Santa Clara. A Salt Lake City native who attended West High School, she originally began her collegiate career as a soccer player at Sweet Briar College in 2013.
Murphy is a civil engineering major with a 3.908 grade point average. She has earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in both track and cross country.
"Couldn't be more proud of her," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "A senior in her final race representing her team and her university in the best possible way, we are super excited."
Murphy's eighth-place finish is the best finish for a Utah runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Murphy is the fourth NCAA cross country All-American at Utah, joining Jill Molen (1981), Cesla Bowman (1987) and Amanda Mergaert (2012).
Murphy was 26th at the 2-km split, moving up to 14th at the 4-km mark before finishing eighth. She was second among Pac-12 student-athletes.
"The lead group just went on a dead sprint out of the start shoot, kind of got a jump on her but she knew she couldn't go that fast that early," coach Kepler explained. "She got to 2000 meters and kind of caught her wind, caught her legs back and started to get her rhythm and just had that look in her eye that she was going to run down everyone ahead of her."
Murphy did not finish outside of the top eight this year. She finished second at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, second at the Wisconsin Invitational and fourth at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Murphy is also an All-American in both indoor and outdoor track. Murphy earned first-team All-America honors in the outdoor 3,000 steeplechase in 2017 and earned second team All-America honors in indoor in the 5,000.
Murphy transferred to Utah from Santa Clara. A Salt Lake City native who attended West High School, she originally began her collegiate career as a soccer player at Sweet Briar College in 2013.
Murphy is a civil engineering major with a 3.908 grade point average. She has earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors in both track and cross country.
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