Texas Woman's University Athletics

She was TWU’s first great sprinter who paved the way for other Pioneers, including fellow inductee Rochelle Barker Davis. As a freshman, she won the 100-yard dash at the National Intercollegiate Division of Girls & Women’s Sports with a record-setting time of 10.4 seconds. That same year she was selected to represent the U.S. in the 1970 World Student Games in Torino, Italy.

In 1971, she played a major role in TWU’s AIAW National Championship victory. Individually, she won the 100-yard dash at the National Indoor Federation Championships, which were held in the Houston Astrodome. Murphy Hatch was also a member of the U.S. National Team and set a 100-meter track record of 11.3 seconds in Mexico City.

She too, was an odds on favorite for the Olympic games, but was injured in the same race as Rochelle Barker Davis and could not go to the trials. She was forced to retire in the Fall of 1973 due to genetic hypertension.

Murphy Hatch is a posthumous inductee into the TWU Athletics Hall of Fame. She passed away on September 20, 1982 at the age of 31.

A four-year standout at Tuloso-Midway Rand Morgan High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, she actually started the girls track program as the only female participant. She won two Texas State Girls Track & Field titles apiece in the 100-yard dash and 220-yard dash. She was also a member of the 1967 mile relay champions and 1969 880 relay team. The school dedicated the Judy Murphy Hatch Memorial Track in July 1985.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Jerry and Ruth Murphy, and her daughter, Jennifer Hatch.