MADISON- With very little fanfare due to the stay-at-home Covid-19 situation, John Murray sat with his parents and signed an athletic scholarship with the Auburn Tigers on April 15. The current Bob Jones High senior chose the Tigers’ program after sifting through others schools including Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Texas A&M.

“The first visit I made to Auburn I automatically knew that was the place for me as I fell in love with the university when I first saw it,” said Murray. “Actually I’ve been an Alabama fan all my life until just a couple months ago. I love track and field more than anything and I feel comfortable about by choice as the track program at Auburn is a solid group and it’s a good school as I’ll study aerospace engineering.”

The 6-foot-2 athlete recently won the Indoor Pentathlon at the AHSAA State Indoor Track Meet with a record number of points and pushed him to the top of the rankings nationally in the event. His enthusiasm and dedication to the sport is nothing short of remarkable and Murray was in high gear for the outdoor track season where he had his sights set on winning the Decathlon before he exits high school for the collegiate level of the sport.

“I’ve been trying to find an open track here locally as the artificial turf track/field at Bob Jones is closed due to construction,” said Murray. “My friends, Matthew Weaver, who is on the track team at Alabama, and my classmate Xavier Wright, who runs hurdles and handles jumping events, and I have been working out together in open fields or wherever we can settle in and feel comfortable running sprints and remaining in good physical shape.”

Murray and his workout partners have used the newly built running track at nearby Madison Academy and that helps in their quest for proper training for the next season of track and field. Murray’s stay-at-home routine has also caused for some changes in normal workout routines as the super-talented athlete has used common, everyday items like a bath towel, can goods and a back pack in his efforts to lift weights at home.

Murray has also been swimming in his family home pool located in their backyard.

While in route of setting a new state record of 3,772 points in the pentathlon, Murray is also on track to possibly qualify for the U20 Nationals at Indiana University in July. Through this meet, he will be able to possibly qualify for the World Championships set for late July in Kenya.

“All of this is just a fun adventure for me and I look forward to getting back into competition,” said Murray.