CENTRAL VALLEY – Ryan Murray comes from a family with ties to Boston College so he’s always had his sights on studying pre-med at the campus on the edge of The Hub.

Murray has been a competitive distance runner for Cornwall but his times – up until lately – were not quite up to the challenging standards put forth by the B.C. coaches in order to walk on to the Eagles’ track team. That has changed in the last month and Murray might realize his goal of competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Murray was the underdog in Thursday’s 800-meters final in the Section 9 state qualifier. The senior planted himself on the heels of Monticello’s Evan Waterton for the two-lap run and hoped for the best. When Murray completed his first lap, he saw the circuit time was 55 seconds – a bit faster than he expected, but still comfortable. It raised his hopes, and when Waterton started to falter at the top of the final stretch Murray raced past, held off the charge of Roosevelt’s Jacob Kosilla and won the coveted spot for next week’s state meet in a personal-best 1 minute, 55.04 seconds, mere fractions off the mark set by the B.C. recruiters.

“It’s so phenomenal to be going (to B.C.),’’ said Murray, who will be on a biology studies track. His mother, Christine, played lacrosse and rowed for B.C. “It was a dream school of mine growing up and to get in was just a dream come true for me. To run there would be so awesome.’’

Murray went sub-1:57 at the recent Loucks Games, placing 16 th in 1:56.57 – he also set a personal record of 4:06.34 in the 1,500 at Loucks. He PR’d by 1.53 seconds on a humid Thursday.

“He’s one of those kids who’s kind of come on of late,’’ said Cornwall coach Dave Feuer. “He’s saving his best for last.’’

Cornwall junior Karrie Baloga – a week after committing early to the University of Colorado – is hoping for three spots at states. She went out hard and easily secured a Division I (large school) berth in the 3,000 meters, winning in a meet-record time of 9:46.34 and taking down Cornwall great Aisling Cuffe’s meet mark of 9:48.5 in 2011. Grace Boyd of Sullivan West was 76 seconds back and earned the Division II (small school) spot.

“I wanted to assert my dominance,’’ Baloga said of her brisk start.

On Friday, Baloga plans to run the 2,000 steeplechase and has a spot on the Dragons’ 3,200-meter relay team.

“I’m going into that with a  really good attitude and just having fun with it,’’ she said.

Monroe-Woodbury’s Collin Gilstrap defended his No. 1 seed in the metric 2-mile, shaving more than 16 seconds off his previous best and won the combined 3,200-meter race in 9:19.40. He ran the last two 400-meter laps in 67 and 66 seconds. His chief race threat, Tri-Valley’s Adam Furman, went 76 and 75 over the last two and finished in 9:37.64, still claiming the Division 2 spot.

“We were waiting for that race from Collin,’’ said MW coach Jim Glover. Gilstrap runs events from the 400 meters to two-mile, depending on where Glover needs him in dual meets. This is only the fourth time he has run the 3,200 this season, and Glover believes it’s the longer distances where Gilstrap will succeed.

Monticello’s Waterton, who had little time to rest between his two distance events, finished fifth overall in 10:05.92 – he had a previous “Super Standard” already in his pocket and moves to states in Division 1.

This is the second of three experimental years employing a new “Super Standard” has been employed (2019 was the first year, but the last two state meets were canceled due to COVID). The Super Standard – derived from a formula of previous state meet finishes – is supposed to protect the finest competitors and allow dominant sections to secure extra spots for the state meet. Another long-utilized standard has been “grandfathered” in as well.

The Super Standard did manage to secure state Division 1 spots for four Section 9 girls athletes: Bianca Staples of Valley Central and Ella Michelitch of Minisink Valley in the high jump, and Lily Beattie of Warwick and Sophie Mirecki of Washingtonville in the pole vault.

The second day of the state qualifier shifts to Goshen High School, with a 3 p.m. start. Heats for the 100 and 200 meters, plus the 100/110 hurdles were run on Thursday. … The state Federation championships will be held June 10-11 at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

Division 1 and 2 winners advance to state meet; asterisk marks additional state qualifiers based on two separate standards

Key: Chapel Field (CF); Chester (Ches); Cornwall (Cor); Eldred (Eld); Ellenville (Ell); F.D. Roosevelt (FDR); Fallsburg (Fall); James I. O'Neill (JIO); Kingston (King); Liberty (Lib); Marlboro (Marl); Minisink Valley (MV); Monroe-Woodbury (MW); Monticello (Mont); New Paltz (NP); Newburgh Free Academy (NFA); Onteora (Ont); Pine Bush (PB); Pine Plains (PP); Port Jervis (PJ); Red Hook (RH); Rondout Valley (RV); Saugerties (Saug); Sullivan West (SW); Tri-Valley (TV); Valley Central (VC); Warwick (War); Washingtonville (Wash); Webutuck (Web)

800-meters: Div. 1 – 1.  (1) Ryan Murray (Cor) 1:55.04; 2. (2) Jacob Kosilla (FDR) 1:55.78; 3. (3) Evan Waterton (Mont) 1:57.71; Div. 2 – 1. (4) Adam Moyer (RH) 1:59.23; 2. (5) Jackson Smith (JIO) 2:00.31; 3. (10) Gabriel Desrochers (Lib) 2:01.81

3,200: Div. 1 – 1. (1) Collin Gilstrap (MW) 9:19.40; 2. (4) Luca Maneri (King) 10:04.44; 3. (5) Evan Waterton* (Mont) 10:05.92; Div. 2 – 1. (2) Adam Furman (TV) 9:37.64; 2. (3) Craig Costa (TV) 9:54.99; 4. (8) Domenic Valentino (Marl) 10:11.23

High jump – Div. 1 – 1. Jadden Bryant (Mont) 6-3; 2. Jun Rivas (NFA) 6-0; 3. Joe McDonald Jr. (King) and Dion Burroughs (Wash) 5-10; Div. 2 – 1. Constentino Procsia (PJ) 6-1; 2. Finn Gibson (NP) 5-10; 3. Dior Williams (RV) 5-10

Pole vault – Div. 1 – 1. Sam Buckler (King) 12-6; 2. Aaron Dovel (King) 12-0; 3. Joshua Chait (Wash) 11-0; Div. 2 – 1. Drew Heimink (Marl) 12-6; 2. Colin Robertson (Marl) 12-0; 3. Stephen Barnum (RV) 10-6

Javelin (non-state event): Div. 1 – Jason Deising (King) 122-8; 2. Joshua Dymond (PB) 103-3; 3. Stephen Gihr (PB) 96-8; Div. 2 – 1. Mykhaylo Hychka (Ches) 106-6; 2. Oliver Norminton (Fall) 103-6; 3. Collin Mentnech (TV) 103-3

800-meters: Div. 1 – Ava Carsley (VC) 2:18.25; 2. (2) Julia Singh (War) 2:18.77; 3. 3. (5) Carla Bautista (King) 2:23.73; Div. 2 – 1. (3) Kayla Johnson (PJ) 2:20.28; 2. (4) Shalyen Goslar (CF) 2:20.71; 3. (8) Amanda Intrieri (Web) 2:26.28

3,000: Div. 1 – 1. (1) Karrie Baloga (Cor) 9:46.34; 2. (3) Samantha Apostolico (MW) 11:10.98; 3. (5) Hannah Pawlowski (PB) 11:33.02; Div. 2 – 1. (2) Grace Boyd (SW) 11:02.30; 2. (4) Amelia Mickelson (TV) 11:25.52; 3. (10) Madeline Mills (Ont) 12:41.05.

High jump: Div. 1 – 1. Alana Rider (FDR) 5-0; 2. Carson Villani (Cor) 4-10; 3. Mya Riquelme (PB) and Sierra Jones (MV) 4-6; 6. Bianca Staples* (VC) 4-4; 6. Ella Michelitch* (MV) 4-4; Div. 2 – 1. Tessa Blackburn (PP) 4-10; 2. Giesella King (Fall) 4-9; 3. Amelia Benjamin* (Ell) 4-6

Pole vault: Div. 1 – Rachel Venter (War) 11-0; 2. Lily Beattie* (War) 11-0; 3. Ella Galloway (PB) 11-0; 4. Sophie Mirecki* (Wash) 10-6; Div. 2 – 1. Siri Walsh (NP) 8-9; 2. Ady Laurie (NP) 8-9; 3. Lora Johnson (NP) 8-0

Javelin (non-state event): Div. 1 – Madi Green (Saug) 71-6; 2. Madison Boyce (MV) 70-0; 3. Malak Samdaoui (MV) 52-11; Div. 2 – 1. Kesenia Sosnowski (Eld) 78-3; 2. Mackenzie Closs (TV) 62-2; 3. Ceci Mancia (Fall) 56-2