On episode 114 of the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast, former MSU All-OVC golfer, Jared Wolfe is on the cusp of qualifying for the highest level of professional golf, the PGA Tour. Out of Louisville’s Butler High School,  Wolfe arrived to play for Coach Eddie Hunt in the fall of 2006 and as a senior, helped the Racers win the OVC championship in 2010. In 10 years since, Wolfe has been on a steady rise in professional golf with five victories in three seasons (2017-20) on the PGA Tour’s Latinoamerica circuit and the Korn Ferry Tour. 

Murray State hall of fame men's basketball coach, Steve Newton is featured in episode 113 of the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast. Leading the Racers from 1985-91, Newton was a protege to Coach Ron Greene from 1978-85. In six seasons as head coach, Newton's teams won 19.3 games per season. He took the Racers to a program record four-straight post-season appearances, which included trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1988, 1990 and 1991, plus an NIT appearance in 1989.  Newton’s teams produced 14 All-OVC players including four straight OVC Player of the Year winners, two each by Jeff Martin and Popeye Jones. He also recruited MSU hall of fame point guard Don Mann. It was a one of the greatest runs in the history of Racer basketball. 

Murray State Hall of Famer, Sheila Smith, is featured this week on the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast, episode 112. One of two players to be selected four times as All-OVC in MSU history, Smith was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1998 as the first player from women’s basketball. The program’s all-time scorer from 1985-89, her 2,287 points is still eighth all-time in the OVC. Smith’s No. 24 was retired when she was inducted into the MSU hall.

Episode 111 highlights the great basketball career for Murray State hall of famer, Herb McPherson, who played for Coach Cal Luther from 1964-67. Out of Gas City, Indiana, McPherson was a two-time All-OVC performer and left the Racers as the No. 3 all-time scorer with 1,513 points, which is still in the top-15 today. In 1966, he set the MSU single game scoring mark with 44 points in against Middle Tennessee at Racer arena. His record stood for nearly 30 years until Marcus Brown scored 45 points in 1995. A 30-year veteran of teaching and coaching at the high school level, McPherson was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Episode 110 of the podcast features 2020 Murray State Hall of Fame selection, Coach Billy Kennedy, who guided the Racers' men's basketball program from 2006-11. Undertaking a rebuilding of the roster, Kennedy led the Racers to back-to-back OVC titles and to MSU's first win in the NCAA Tournament in 22 years in 2010. "The Shot" Danero Thomas was a buzzer-beater over Vanderbilt in San Jose. Kennedy talks about the thrill of winning in the NCAA Tournament, the importance of faith and family, and the mentoring of Steve Prohm, who succeeded Kennedy and had his own amazing run of success at MSU. We also catch up with Carol Robertson, the student jockey who rode Violet Cactus around the track after a MSU touchdown in 1976. We take a look at the MSU Football schedule to be played in the spring of 2021.

Episode 109 of the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast shines the spotlight on Joi Scott, part of the 2020 Murray State Hall of Fame class from Racer women's basketball. Playing for the Racers from 2003-07 for head coach Joi Felton, Scott left MSU as the OVC Player of the Year (the first for the Racers in 20 years) and the top two year scorer in program history. She was at the front of the rise of women's basketball at MSU that eventually produced 68 wins over a three-season period. Scott also set the MSU single game scoring mark of 43 points in 2006.

On episode 108, Murray State Softball great Jenna Bradley is the first from the program to be inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2020. Out of Matoon, Illinois, Bradley was one of the first recruits to the startup Murray State Softball program in 2010. Now 10 years after her final game, her two-year career still ranks among the best in MSU Softball history and no hitter has been able to match Bradley’s power numbers of her senior season in the spring of 2011 in which she was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. Bradley became the most feared hitter in the OVC with 18 home runs, 121 total bases, .807 slugging percentage and 56 RBI. She was the first 30 homer/30 stolen bases player in Racer history. Today she talks about what it was like being with Racer softball from the start and to her MVP season of 2011.

Episode 107 of the Runnin’ with the Racers Podcast features former Murray State football student-athlete, Jack Wolf, who in current times has been one of the movers and shapers of the horse racing industry. A 1973 graduate and recipient of the 2014 Murray State Distinguished Alumnus Award, Wolf was part of the ownership group that won the 146th Kentucky Derby with “Authentic” in 2020. It was Wolf’s second association with a Kentucky Derby winner after “Justify” won the Triple Crown in 2018. Wolf was a tight end for Coach Bob Fergerson and the MSU football team from 1967-71. The lessons Jack learned playing football at MSU have stayed with him in his professional career including the last 20 years at the top level of horse racing. 

(Photos by Alton Strupp/The Courier Journal)

Episode 106 continues our look at the members of the 2020 class to the Murray State Hall of Fame with Nick and Patrick Newcomb of Racer men’s golf. Nick arrived to MSU in 2007 and for one season in 2010, Patrick was a freshman and together they propelled MSU to the OVC championship. By the time Patrick finished in 2013, the Newcomb brothers had been a part of 19 team victories and 11 individual titles. Nick was OVC Player of the Year once and Patrick won it twice and together they won three OVC medalist titles. Since then, the Newcomb boys have enjoyed successful professional careers. Also today, we recall Danero Thomas’ famous shot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and wrap up Ja Morant’s NBA Rookie of the Year honor.

2020 Murray State Hall of Famer, Tara Isbell, is this week's guest on the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast, episode 105. An outstanding goalkeeper, she was part of Racer Soccer from 2007-10 when MSU won the first OVC regular season championship in program history in 2008 and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009. The list of honors and accomplishments for the native of Mayfield, Kentucky, are many, as she set the standard of championship goalkeeping for the Racers. Isbell was the 2008 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, the only one in Racer Soccer history. Isbell now is on the front lines of Covid-19 at Saint Thomas West Hospital In Nashville, where she uses the lessons of teamwork in her professional career.