Athletics Alumni Spotlight

Casey Murphy, Softball and Anajae Register, Women’s Cross Country

 

Our first alumni athletes in the spotlight are two female athletes who joined the Air Force following their time at Mercer.  With Veterans Day falling in November, we would like to recognize the service of these former athletes.

One of these athletes is former women’s cross country runner Anajae Register, who graduated from MCCC in 2013 with an Associates in Business Administration.

Register spent eight years in the Air Force before ending her time with the service last year.  During her years of service, she was stationed in Germany, Korea and Japan.  Register became interested in the Air Force when one of her cousins joined.  “The Air Force offered free education and a chance to travel and hearing about the experience my cousin had, made me want to enter as well.”  Register said that the best part about the Air Force was meeting and connecting with so many other people. 

While at Mercer, Register was a member of the women’s cross country team in 2011, which was the first full-scoring team for the Vikings in twenty years, as the program restarted in 2010 after a long hiatus.  Register earned All Region 19 honors with a 10 ^th place finish at the Region 19 Championships that season. 

When asked if running cross country helped her with the Air Force, Register said “Absolutely. It helped so much.  I was able to develop endurance from running cross country that was necessary for the training we did.” Register shared that daily training runs were a part of the Air Force and if you didn’t finish or struggled, you would get written up.  You could be asked to leave the service, if you were written up a certain number of times.  Register said pushing herself in cross country helped her with the training she had to do and she was able to get even stronger during her time with the Air Force.

When asked what her favorite memory of her time running cross country at Mercer, Register said “ the people I got to meet: my teammates and coaches.  I loved when we would stop to eat after meets (usually at Panera) and hang out.  The van rides to meets were fun.  We were all close and that’s what I liked most about running at Mercer.”

The close relationships Register was able to form through her time on the cross country team and while in the Air Force helped her after she left the service.  She briefly worked in Human Resources for Senior Always Best Care and learned the importance of being able to understand people.  She noted how military life is very different, but “I learned to pay more attention to people through the service, which was very helpful when I worked in HR.”

Last month, Register opened her own tax business, Divine & Truth Tax Services, based out of Trenton.  Register provides tax services for those who qualify as low to moderate income.  Register said “you would be surprised that some people don’t even understand or realize they need to file taxes each year.” And that is one thing she is focused on, helping to educate these people about taxes and finances. 

Register credits her coursework at Mercer for helping prepare her for both the Air Force and her current work.  “At the time, I couldn’t figure out why we had to take some classes outside of Business like several Sociology classes.  I later realized how helpful these other classes were as I learned how to understand and interact with other people.”

Another former Viking athlete Casey Murphy is still active in the Air Force.  Murphy graduated from Mercer in 2016 with an Associates in Exercise Science.  She was a member of the softball team for two seasons.

Murphy earned 1 ^st Team All Region 19 and All Garden State Athletic Conference honors while on the in 2015 and 2016.  Murphy had an outstanding sophomore season, finishing with one of the top batting averages (.480) and on base percentages (.543) in the country. 

Murphy is still active in the service and unlike Register who stayed stationed in a few countries while in the service, Murphy has been to many countries due to her position with the service.  Murphy was a Phoenix Raven.  She explained that Ravens “fly with cargo aircraft and provide security in austere environments where there was little to no known security on the flight line.” As a result of this role, Murphy has been to 54 countries. 

Similar to Register, Murphy was inspired to join the Air Force thanks to a relative in the service. Murphy’s grandfather was in the Air Force.  She knew she “didn’t want a typical 9-5 job” and reached out to a recruiter. After finding out more about how they operate and their mission, Murphy knew this is what she wanted to do.

Murphy credits her time playing softball with helping her in the Air Force.  “My time at Mercer and my time playing softball there taught me time management, attention to detail and how to operate as a team. Our coaches set very high standards for us on and off the field. They taught us the true meaning of hard work and teamwork. In the Air Force if one person fails, we all fail and being a student athlete at Mercer helped me to look out for my wingmen and operate as a cohesive unit.”

Murphy’s favorite memory from softball at Mercer is was being able to play with her older sister Kelly for one season. Another favorite memory for her was practices. “Being able to both joke around and have a good time with my teammates, but also put in the work and dedication is very memorable for me because the hard work and sweat that we put in on the field during practice led to our success during game day.”

Murphy is currently stationed in San Antonio, Texas and is a tech school instructor.  Murphy enjoys this role, as “every day I am able to impact brand new Airmen that just got out of BMT(Basic military training). This is the most rewarding job I have had so far. Being able to see the transformation in these young Airmen motivates me every day to be a better leader and follower.”

We thank both Register and Murphy for their service to our country.