Mighty Murray keeps her titles

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- This weekend, Girard junior Cachet Murray laughed, smiled, joked, talked and celebrated.
And won. And won. And won.
Murray won the sixth and seventh state track titles of her career on Saturday, cruising to victories in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Division II state meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Murray also won the long jump and broke her own state meet records in the two sprinting events on Friday.
"I like running here," she said.
Guess so.
Obstacles
And the crazy thing is, she might have been even faster had she not missed the first month and a half of the season with a hamstring injury.
"Yeah, but you can't talk that way," she said. "It's over and done with. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."
Murray said she was 100 percent by the district meet two weeks ago, which is when she started long jumping. She's still a little faster than last season, when she successfully defended her two sprint titles, but her coaches say she's nowhere near her potential.
"She's just scratching the surface," her sprint coach, Walt Brame, said on Friday.
Murray's seven state titles put her within striking distance of the all-time state record of 11. If she defends her three titles next season -- and she will be favored to do so -- she'll tie Kandace Stone (Cleveland Collinwood) and Richelle Webb (Cleveland Heights Beaumont) for second-best all-time.
Cicely Campbell (Beaumont) and Susan Nash (Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans) each won 11 titles in their career, but both were aided by state-winning relays. Murray should break Nash's record of eight individual state titles.
Bittersweet
"This weekend has been great, but it's been sad coming down without my teammates," said Murray, who has run in the 4x100 relay the past two years. "I miss the little [Erin] Walters, the [Jenny] Sopkovichs and all their crazy comments."
But she still had a good fan base, including Chaney sophomore Latalia Jones, who finished fourth in the 100 and third in the 200 on Saturday.
"She's a fun person," Jones said. "She makes you laugh and she makes you work a lot harder. She makes you think about what you have to do to get here."
Murray could still challenge the record of 11 titles, but she'd have to add another individual event to do it.
When asked if she's thought about it, she smiled.
"I have one in mind," she said.
Humphrey runner-up
Liberty senior Brittny Humphrey placed second in the 300 hurdles to end her stellar track career on a high note.
"I'm proud of myself," she said. "I've been practicing a lot more this year. Even on our days off from practice, I was working on the hurdles by myself. I just wanted to make it out of the semifinals and I did."
Humphrey also was a member of two state championship relays. The Leopards won the 4x200 title in 2002 and the 4x100 last year.
"It's overwhelming," she said. "Nobody thought this would happen."
scalzo@vindy.com