THE TIMES 1995 FALL ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : Murray’s There When It Counts : Runner of the year: He always came through at the finish for Santa Margarita.

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA —  Michael Murray had a knack for coming up big when it counted this fall.

The Santa Margarita junior was at his best during the season’s final month, becoming The Times Orange County boy runner of the year in the process.

“He just had a great year,” Santa Margarita Coach Dave Zeitler said. “He ran hard and came on right at the end.”

After racing through the always-tough Sea View League to post an undefeated dual-meet record, Murray began tearing up the local running scene on a larger scale.

Murray set his sights on a second consecutive Southern Section title, although this year’s field would be much more competitive as Santa Margarita moved from Division III to Division II.

“We try to follow all of the top runners all year,” Zeitler said. “So we figured after [the Southern Section] prelims that it was obvious he would win.”

Running according to Zeitler’s plan, Murray cruised to the section Division II-A title in easy fashion, finishing in 15 minutes 46 seconds for the victory.

“[Winning today] was one of my goals and to make it to state again,” Murray said after earning his third consecutive berth to the state cross-country finals in Fresno.

Running as an individual qualifier to the meet (which meant running without his teammates for the first time all season), Murray felt at home in the Division II state final.

Murray was the first non-senior across the finish line on the 3.1-mile course, finishing fifth in 15:41.

A week later, on the same course, Murray improved his time by five seconds to finish 13th at the Foot Locker Western Regionals, racing against some of the best prep runners in the Western United States.

The top eight finishers qualified for the National Championships in San Diego the following week, a goal Murray has in his sights for his final prep year.

“I’m definitely thinking about trying to go out and win it next year,” Murray said.

This season began with Murray recording landslide victories at the Laguna Hills and Dana Hills invitationals, where he ran against other juniors. He won at Laguna Hills by 25 seconds, finishing in 15:22. At Dana Hills, he won by 29 seconds, finishing in 15:07.

“We are going to try and find some other races next year,” Zeitler said. “He did all those things early on by himself.”

Murray’s next victory came at the Sea View League finals, where he pulled away from the pack and won by 11 seconds over Woodbridge senior Ross Venook. Santa Margarita won the team championship.

“I was excited about that meet, but I was a little surprised at how much I won by,” Murray said of his first league title.

One thing is for sure, Murray’s future running successes won’t surprise anyone.