BVU Freshman Uses State Stumble as a Marker for Motivation
Max Murphy, a freshman at BVU, is currently 13th in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles. He looks back on the events that brought him success.
Max Murphy’s biggest thrills have come on the track. It’s also where his biggest letdown took place.
Murphy, a Buena Vista University freshman, enjoys his foray into college track competition, currently sitting 13th in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles, reasonably confident of having secured a berth in the NCAA Division III Indoor National Meet in Winston-Salem, N.C., later this month.
What got him there? The letdown of two years ago.
“I ate the blue oval,” he says of a fall on the famous Drake Stadium track in Des Moines. “It wasn’t good.”
Murphy was a junior at Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School, running the third leg of his team’s shuttle hurdle relay, starting his portion of the race with this team in second place.
“I took nine steps to get to the first hurdle, where I normally take seven steps,” he remembers. “I hit the first hurdle hard because my steps were off.”
The combination of adrenaline and nerves served as a double whammy, causing Murphy to fall after hitting the hurdle.
The scene nearly repeated itself when Murphy ran the 110-meter hurdles later that day. He took nine steps before going over the first hurdle, far different from his customary seven-step routine. Again, he hit the hurdle and stumbled badly. He didn’t have the time to recover.
“I was seeded second in the 110-highs,” he says. “I finished 23rd.”
The episode fueled Murphy as he continued to train. He used it as motivation while gearing up for his senior season at SB-L. Murphy didn’t disappoint. He also didn’t hit any hurdles on his way to amassing 20 points for the Warriors, collecting state titles in the 110-meter highs and the shuttle hurdle relay. The Warriors won the Class 3A crown with ease.
“Falling in my junior year definitely helped set me up for success as a senior,” he says. “I don’t take things for granted.”
And that’s why Murphy continues to work for Coach Colt Slack and the Beavers. Following a fast start to the indoor season, Murphy battled an injury bug following the holiday break. He’s rounding back into form, attempting to hold, if not improve upon, his national ranking in the 60-meter hurdles. Murphy finished second on Saturday in the conference indoor meet in the 55-meter hurdles.
"Coach Slack has put together a bunch of great teammates. It really is like a family here."
Max Murphy
“Max is a great combination of everything we are looking for in student-athletes here at BVU. He is coachable, has a hardworking attitude, and he is a great teammate,” says Slack, head track and field and cross country coach. “He takes care of the classroom as well and takes a lot of pride in his academic standing. Max is going to have a stellar career as a Beaver and I am so excited for his future!”
Murphy enjoys the camaraderie Slack has helped engineer in the track and field program at BVU. Murphy receives positive reinforcement often, even in his dorm room hours after practice.
“My roommate, Riley Flint, is also a hurdler,” Murphy says. “He’s a positive voice in my head about staying strong and getting better. The whole team is like that. Coach Slack has put together a bunch of great teammates. It really is like a family here.”
Outside of track, Murphy majors in sport business and has found his stride, pun intended, in the classroom, earning Dean’s List recognition while participating in a Phoenix business trip for students in January.
“I’m not sure what I want to do professionally yet,” says Murphy, who plans to complete an internship this summer in or near Sioux City. “I know I have time. I’m only 18.”
Time. Rather than measuring it in years, Murphy focuses on hundredths-of-a-second. And so it goes for a Beaver eyeing his spot in a national meet.
“Competition in college is different,” he says. “In every meet, everyone is fast. I’m learning what I need to do to improve, and I’m trying to become more of a vocal leader. I’m also having a lot of fun at the same time. I look forward to coming to practice every day at BVU, which is something you need to bring out your best in a sport.”