SAMANTHA MURRAY

Class of 2014

At Defiance High School, Sam was a 4-year letter-winner in volleyball, swimming, and track. For the volleyball team, she was an outside hitter and later the team’s libero, collecting League- and District-level accolades. For the swim team, she was a free-style specialist with District Meet appearances in the 50m and 100m.

Sam had a strong WBL Track Meet record, with conference wins in the 400m (2011, 2012), 800m (2013, 2014), and 1600m (2013, 2014), with team wins in the 4x800 her junior and senior years. At the state meet she placed 2nd in the 400m her freshman and won the State Championship her senior year in the 800m. Sam still holds the school records in the 400m and 800m, and is part of the current 4x100m relay team record. Sam attended the University of Notre Dame and earned four varsity letters and All-American honors in track.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology, and is pursuing a PhD for Developmental Psychology at Colorado State University. As a doctoral student, Sam has contributed to community interventions serving disadvantaged youth and families, become a LASER Fellow (a program dedicated to Leadership Advancing Socially Engaged Research), taught undergraduate classes at Notre Dame and CSU, and shared her research at international academic conferences. With one year remaining in her PhD, Sam hopes to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship so she can continue her research focusing on parent relationships and children’s psychopathology.

While Sam’s “official” sports career ended at Notre Dame, she continues to engage her competitive spirit in lots of ways. She regularly competes in volleyball leagues and tournaments, and to her own surprise, even opted to run the Colorado Marathon last year. Sam loves living in Colorado with her fiancé Michael and their two dogs, Finnegan and Maeve.