Murray's meter is running as senior year looms

She's the choice for a third straight year.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
GIRARD -- Girard junior Cachet Murray went on vacation right after the state track meet. When she came home, she had 37 messages on her answering machine from college coaches.
"I'm avoiding them," she said with a laugh.
After dominating the Division II track scene for the past three seasons, Murray now has some decisions to make.
She's already made the big one. Although she loves basketball more than any other sport, she's committed to running track in college.
"There's no doubt about it," Murray said. "My grandmother would kill me if I didn't. So would the rest of my family. It's not like I'll never play basketball again, it's just that I'm focusing on track first."
Of course, if Murray (who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall) were just three or four inches taller, this would be a whole different conversation
"That's what I'm saying," said Murray, laughing.
Bumps in road
Murray ended this track season in fine fashion, but three months ago, she wasn't even sure she'd finish. She battled a bad hamstring pull for most of the spring and also struggled with pink eye and the flu.
When she finished in the middle of the pack in the 100-meter dash at the midseason Optimist Meet, she knew what she had to do.
"After the Optimist, I knew I wanted to finish the season," Murray, the Vindicator girls track athlete of the year for the third straight year, said. "I wanted to go to state, but I didn't just want to make it back and have everyone say, 'Oh, she made it back. What a good accomplishment.' I wanted to get back and be faster than I was the year before."
She won two events at the Trumbull Athletic Conference meet -- her first full meet back -- and was 100 percent by the district meet. Two weeks later, she broke her own state records in the 100 and 200 and won the long jump to become a seven-time state champion.
Doubts
"This time was special," she said. "This started out as the worst season ever. It was so hard not to be able to compete. Everyone didn't think I'd be coming back and I myself didn't think I'd be coming back. But I dug deep and asked the Lord to help me get through this season.
"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."
Over the last month, she worked hard with her sprint coach, Walt Brame, to get back in shape -- and, astonishingly, get faster.
"Yes, most of it is natural ability, but when you've got a great coach like Walt, that makes a big difference," she said. "Everyone says they could be my coach, that all they'd have to do is tell me to get on the track. But they don't understand that there's a lot more to it than that."
If Murray can win four titles at next year's state meet -- she'd probably have to add another individual event -- she can tie the Ohio record for most career state titles with 11.
"Honestly, I could care less about that," said Murray. "I want to be a four-time state champion [in the 100 and 200] because I'll be in a league of my own as the only person to win state four years in a row. That's what I'm going for."
College outlook
Murray isn't quite sure where she'll go to college, but Michigan State has the early lead. She has family in Michigan and her cousin, Courtney Davidson, will play basketball there next year. Murray is also considering Ohio State, Michigan and Tennessee, among others.
"The whole thing is, I don't necessarily have to go to the best college in the country," said Murray. "I could help make my teammates better somewhere and still run against great competition and get better."
But that's still a year away. For now, she's looking forward to her senior year.
"I'm finally going to be one of the big dogs," she said. "It's going to be fun. I may even cry after track season, but it'll be tears of happiness because I will have finally made it.
"I'll have done something no one else has done."
scalzo@vindy.com