When Yudai Murashige came to Seymour High School in November of his freshman year he knew he wanted to participate in sports.
He played basketball back home in Japan, but decided he wanted to try something different here so he went out for track and field the following spring, and ran cross-country for three years.
“When I came here I had another Japanese friend, and he ran cross-country that year,” Murashige said. “Coach (Randy) Fife was my counselor. He was very nice to me and he introduced me to all the cross-country runners. I started out practicing during the winter, for the conditioning, and I started with track and I enjoyed that.
“This year it’s been mid-distance, mainly the 400 and 800. I did long distance my freshmen, sophomore and junior years, but I switched to mid-distance this year. I do like it better. I like the 400. I like lane 3. It just feels the best.”
The Owls’ senior also competes in the relays.
“In the 4×400 relay I get times like 57 or 58,” Murashige said. “I like to run in the middle. In the 4×400 you can go out more than in the 800 because you only have to run one lap. I just kind of go all out on the 400.”
Murashige says he uses different strategy in the 800.
“In the 800, I usually go out faster on the first lap, and then I go a little bit slower on the second lap, and then I try to go as fast as I can on the last stretch,” he said. “My best this year is a 2:23. If I have to start outside I would just start strong on the first part so I can be in front of all the people so I don’t have to cut in.”
In cross-country, Murashige tried to run a steady pace.
“I wasn’t a very fast runner, but I tried to get my fastest time each meet,” Murashige said. “I tried to improve my time over and over. My senior year my first meet wasn’t as good as I expected, then I slowly improved my time.”
He said he ran fastest his junior year (20:30), and this year he was unable to break 21 minutes.
“I tried to stay consistent, so if I was going for 20 minutes if I could run 6:30 for my first mile I think that was a real good goal,” Murashige said.
His favorite course was Brown County.
“I liked Brown County,” he said. “I like flat courses. This year it was very muddy there (for sectional) and I didn’t get to run as fast as usual.”
He said the thing he enjoyed the most was running with his teammates.
“I like to compete with my teammates, and with people from other schools,” Murashige said. “I like to push myself as much as I can. If I get a good time at the meet I feel very accomplished and that’s what I enjoy the most.”
He has enjoyed attending SHS.
“My freshman year when I started out I really didn’t know English that much, and my grades weren’t very high, but I tried to push myself,” Murashige siad. “I learned English throughout high school, and I took challenging courses and I worked hard and got good grades. Academically, I think I did a really good job this school year.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Murashige file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Yudai Murashige
High school: Seymour
Parents: Kengo and Kayo Murashige
Sibling: Taiyo
Sports: track and field 4 years, cross-country 3 years
Athletic highlights: 2018 leadership award
Organizations: choir, D.A.R.E role model, Japanese language school
Plans after high school: study economics at a Japanese university
Favorite food: pizza
Favorite musician: Travis Scott
Favorite team: Indiana Pacers
[sc:pullout-text-end]