Class of 2015

Sydnei Murphy, a 2015 graduate of Apex High School, was one of the greatest track & field athletes in the history of Apex High School. She established 7 individual school records in indoor and outdoor track & field during her illustrious career at Apex, all of which still stand. Barely edging out her sister, Alexis, she set the outdoor marks for the 100-meter dash and the indoor marks for the 55-meter and 60-meter dashes. She is also in the top three all-time for Apex in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Even more amazing, however, is how dominant Sydnei was as a horizontal jumper. Sydnei holds the indoor and outdoor school records in the long jump and triple jump events. Her best long jump mark of 20’ 4.25” is over a foot and a half better than the second-best long jumper in Apex history, while her triple jump best of 42’ 0.75” is over three feet farther than the next best triple jump mark in Apex history. If further evidence of her dominance in the horizontal jumps is needed, she still ranks #3 and #4 all-time in the history of the state of North Carolina in the long jump and triple jump respectively. If that were not enough to occupy her time, Sydnei was also an outstanding cheerleader while at Apex, earning three varsity letters in her cheer career with the Cougars.

The times and distances that Sydnei established are incredible, but so too were her performances in conference, regional, state and national meets. Sydnei won 9 individual conference championships and 6 regional titles during her career at Apex. During her final two years at Apex, Sydnei won 8 individual state championships. She swept the long and triple jumps in the outdoor state meet in 2014 and 2015, as well as in the indoor state meet in 2015. In addition, she took the indoor long jump championship in 2014, as well as the indoor 55-meter dash title in 2015. Amazingly, Sydnei produced five finishes that were in the top four nationally in the two horizontal jumps in those same two years. She was second in both jumps in the outdoor national meet during her junior year, and had a second, third, and fourth place finish in the two jumps at indoor and outdoor nationals during her senior year. During that stretch, she earned the conference most valuable field event performer in 2014 and 2015, was selected as the outdoor state meet MVP in 2015 and was honored as the North Carolina Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2014.After gr

aduation from Apex High School, Sydnei continued her outstanding career in both track & field and cheerleading at Duke University. While at Duke, Sydnei earned All-ACC honors on three occasions and established five individual or relay school records. She remains in the top five all-time at Duke in nine different events in indoor and outdoor track & field. Just as in high school, Sydnei also was also a three-time letter winner as a cheerleader for the Blue Devils. Sydnei graduated from Duke University with a degree in cultural anthropology in 2019 and from Harvard with a master’s degree in corporate sustainability in 2024. She is currently working as a Sustainability Specialist with Cisco, while also volunteering with their Green Team and their Crisis Response Team. Sydnei also volunteers with Saving Grace, an organization that works with rescue dogs, and We Plant It Forward. Both her work at Cisco and her volunteer efforts shows her living the truth of her life wanting to make the planet healthier for all its people!