by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
It wasn't quite the finish she wanted, but Timmie Murphy's collegiate cross country career ended on her sport's biggest stage.
Murphy, a UNM senior, finished 115th overall out of a field of 253 runners Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Murphy crossed the line of the 6,000-meter course in 22:16 in her first appearance at the NCAAs.
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She was disappointed with her placing but happy she had the opportunity to compete at the national meet, Murphy said.
"It was humbling," she said. "It was neat to be running against girls with that kind of talent. It was a good experience."
UNM head coach Matt Henry said Murphy did not have a great start to the race. That was the biggest reason why she didn't place higher, he said.
"Timmie got off the line really bad for one reason or another," Henry said. "She was probably in close to 200th place at the 1K mark. At that point, she's in trouble already."
Murphy said she just couldn't get herself going in Monday's race.
"I think it was a combination of things," she said. "If you have a bad start in that kind of race, there's no way that you can come back. I guess I was a little bit flat."
Henry said he was proud of how Murphy moved up a number of spots after her rough start.
"There was some good in it," he said. "She might have been in 200th at the 1K, and she ends up at 115, so she definitely picked some people off as she went. But 115th just doesn't seem like that's where Timmie should have been."
Murphy picked it up as the race went along, but it was tough to move up in such a crowded race, she said.
"I was able to work up a little bit," she said. "It's just hard in a field with that many girls, but I probably had a stronger second half."
As a fifth-year senior, Murphy is not eligible to race in the upcoming indoor track season. However, she does have a final season of outdoor track at UNM in the spring.
Henry said Murphy can build off cross country and have success during the outdoor season.
"I hope we learned from it," he said. "Our best thing to do is to see if there's a possibility to get her into bigger races. She's able to do that now. We'll see what we can do with her in outdoor."
Murphy said she is going to use the disappointing finish to push her during the outdoor season.
"I'm definitely looking forward to track," she said. "I think the fact that I finished where I did is motivating enough for the outdoor season. It was kind of a frustrating race for me, and so I'll probably use that."
Henry said Murphy accomplished a lot during her cross country career at UNM.
"I'm really, really proud of Timmie and how hard she's worked," he said. "I put all that on her shoulders. She worked herself to become the runner she is."
