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In twenty-seven years as girls
varsity basketball coach at Centralia High
School Coach Ann Murray accumulated a record of
486-228, nine South Seven Conference titles,
fifteen Regional crowns, five Sectional
championships, four Elite-Eight appearances,
and in 1977 they took fourth place in the
first ever IHSA
girls state basketball tourney.
Her
1993 and 1994 teams each won 29 games with
the latter being undefeated until their
state tourney loss. She received
the IBCA District 19 Coach of the Year award
five times.
Murray was also the first girls track coach
at CHS (1973-75), winning a conference title in 1975,
and was the first girls softball coach in
1979. When she
arrived on the CHS scene in 1970 she guided
the girls intramurals. In 1972 she entered a
few girls in the IHSA tennis regional held
at C.H.S.
The
Murray family has the distinction of being
one of the few in which each member has
appeared in a State Basketball
Tournament. In addition to Ann's
appearances, her
husband Tony was a scorekeeper in the 1987
and 1988 State Tournaments, their daughter Jodi was a member of
the 1993-94
Elite Eight team, and her son Drew played with the
1998 Boys Elite 8 team.
In 1995 Ann was inducted into the
Illinois Girl’s and Women’s Coaches
Association Hall of Fame, and in 2000 she was inducted into the IBCA Hall
of Fame.
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