Alumni Spotlight

Elizabeth Finch '97 and

Janet McMurray '96


	Elizabeth Finch	Janet McMurray

On a brisk fall afternoon in October at a McMurry soccer game against conference rival Mary-Hardin Baylor, Elizabeth Finch, McMurry class of 1997, stands on the sideline in her position as an athletic trainer. However she does not don the maroon of McMurry, rather she wears the purple of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Standing next to her is fellow McMurry alum Janet McMurray class of 1996, who does serve as the head athletic trainer at McMurry. Both of these ladies attended McMurry together and are examples of the successful athletic training program at their alma mater.

Elizabeth Finch discovered that she wanted to pursue a career in athletic training through a very unorthodox and painful manner. “During my freshmen year I tore my ACL in my knee playing flag football. The training staff at McMurry was very helpful with my rehabilitation and because of that experience; I decided that this is the career I wanted to pursue.” Once entering the athletic training program, Elizabeth came under the influence of the late Bill “Doc” Hadley. “Doc taught me so much, he worked hard and treated every athlete the same. He taught us all how to make wise decisions, especially how to provide quality medical care while often times operating on a limited budget.” Janet McMurray in her third year as Head Athletic Trainer at McMurry continues the strong tradition of the program and echoes the sentiments of Finch regarding the positive influence of Doc Hadley. “Doc was always fair and he taught me to be fair. In Doc’s mind the student-athlete came first, he was an advocate for student-athletes and student-trainers.

The athletic training program at McMurry provided Elizabeth, Janet and others the ability to gain valuable experience. “There were many times that we were given the opportunity to make decisions on medical care, based on what Doc had taught us”, says Finch. “It really gave me the opportunity to be on my own two feet, which was valuable for me when I entered the work force.” McMurray agrees about the importance of the experience that the athletic training program provides. “The strength of the program that McMurry offers is that we give the students a hands-on experience, but with a safety net in place. We are one of the few universities that allows our experienced student-trainers to travel with teams by themselves.” With ten students currently enrolled in the program the future of turning out successful athletic trainers from McMurry remains strong.

After earning her masters degree at Texas Tech, Finch worked as a trainer at Belton High School before taking the job at Mary-Hardin Baylor where she is in her fifth year. While she now wears the other team’s colors, McMurry maintains a special place in her heart. While she always cheers on the Crusaders, the one team she doesn’t mind losing to is her alma mater. “I always want the kids I work with to win, but if we lose to McMurry that is ok,” she says with a smile.