Gabi Murphy: MMA Phenomenon

This year’s Homecoming Dance began at 6:00 p.m. and the doors were to be closed promptly at 7:00 p.m. And that’s what happened, except for one outstanding student: freshman Gabi Murphy. 

On Friday, October 14th, Gabi drove over four hours to compete in a National Tae Kwon Do Championship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

At the mere age of 14, she is already placing well at the National Level in three different categories. She placed second in both the Creative Weapons Category as well as the Extreme Weapons category. And that was only on the first day of the competition. 

On Saturday, she competed in day two. The only event she had left was sparring. Her Ring was scheduled to wrap up around 3 p.m. The only problem was that the Homecoming dance was four hours away and the doors closed at seven.  

She did end up finishing her ring around 3:00 and she even placed 3rd. But in order to make it to her dance, she had to leave the MMA venue and drive directly to FHS. That meant she had to change into her dress and do her hair and make-up somewhere on the way.  

Gabi made it to Homecoming shortly after seven and was let in. She says, “It was such a busy day, but I had a great time!” 

This busy schedule isn’t out of the ordinary for Gabi; in fact, most of her days are filled with several different activities. 

Not only is she a nationally ranked ‘Taekwondoin,’ but she is also an incredible cross-country runner for Fallston.

She does Tae Kwon Do, she runs, she is on the Freshman Class Council, and she maintains good grades. Gabi Murphy is a multifaceted Super Star!