LIHUE — Shawn Murphy of Kilauea watched his son work his way through the field of the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky. “People were slowly dropping off. Pierce was getting stronger,” Shawn Murphy said. “I saw
LIHUE — Shawn Murphy of Kilauea watched his son work his way through the field of the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.
“People were slowly dropping off. Pierce was getting stronger,” Shawn Murphy said. “I saw him in seventh, sixth and fifth, fourth, he was passing one guy at a time.”
Kauai’s Pierce Murphy came on strong in the second half of the 10K race to finish third and lead the University of Colorado mens cross country team to a second-place place.
In a field of 252 of the nation’s finest college runners, Murphy surprised some, even himself, with his performance on a cloudy, cold day. He came in ranked 10th and hoping for a top 20 finish.
“I didn’t expect top three,” he said after the race during a phone interview with The Garden Island.
But Murphy, a UC senior, said he “felt awesome” throughout. There was a point, despite running at a 4:45 per mile pace on the grass course at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, it even felt easy, he said.
With a mile or so to go, the 2011 Island School graduate charged for home.
“I thought to myself, ‘It’s my last cross country race. I gotta keep going. I can’t give up now,’” he said.
He didn’t.
Murphy, wearing a black headband, kicked hard over the final 300 yards, the strain showing on his face, to put a big gap between the runners behind him.
“It felt great,” he said.
Murphy earned his third All-American honor in cross country. His finish was the best by a Buffalo since Dathan Ritzenhein won in 2003.
Despite Murphy’s efforts, Colorado was upset for the team title as Syracuse edged the Buffaloes, 82 points to 91 points.
The Buffaloes came in ranked number one and as the two-time defending national champions.
Edward Cheserek of Oregon won in 28:45, followed by Patrick Tiernan of Villanova in 29:11, then Murphy in 29:37, who was the top American finisher.
Colorado’s womens team also finished second, giving the Buffaloes the best combined finish of any program in the nation,
Basil Scott, a Kauai resident who coached Pierce and watched Saturday’s race, called his performance “pretty amazing.”
Midway, Murphy was in about 10th place.
“He really started moving in the second half of the race,” Scott said. “He really put the hammer down at the end there.”
He said Murphy ran a great race. He was conservative early, positioned himself well, moved up steadily and closed fast.
“You gotta close strong in these races,” he said.
Murphy finished 39th in the 2013 NCAA cross country nationals, and 35th last year. To make the leap to third, Scott said, is impressive.
His strong showing will help put Kauai on the map when it comes to running and make college coaches take more notice of runners from Hawaii. The Aloha State is a difficult place to train and race because of the heat and humidity, so runners don’t produce times as fast as their counterparts on the Mainland.
Murphy’s rise from playing Kauai soccer, to Island School runner, to state track champion, to getting a shot at UC, to becoming the number one runner on Colorado’s cross country team this season, a legendary program under coach Mark Wetmore, is “pretty incredible,” Scott said.
“Pretty inspiring,” he said.
Murphy said he felt strong and in control from the opening gun Saturday. The field spread out quickly, with Cheserek, Tiernan and two others forming a lead pack.
Murphy focused on staying relaxed, breathing and holding his position. He never tired.
“I just slowly made my way up,” he said.
The 22-year-old Murphy and his teammates —Morgan Pearson (25th place), John Dressel in 26th, Ben Saarel in 31st and Connor Winter in 33rd — were disappointed to get second but he said they trained hard and ran hard on Saturday.
“We left it all on the course,” Murphy said.
Wetmore, in an interview after the race, said of Murphy: “He’s been a really patient, hardworking guy for us, better every year. He’s a totally unheralded high school guy so Kauai is out there celebrating right now.”
Shawn Murphy, joined by wife Doreen and daughter Jade on the trip to Louisville to watch Pierce, was ecstatic about how well his son ran.
“I know he always does his best,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better finish than what he did today.”
