Hill-Murray School history

The first Murray School named for him was an elementary school which opened in January 1888 at Como and Commonwealth.

In 1925, a new school was built at Buford and Grantham with 13 classrooms and a gym and the Murray name was transferred to the school.

Ezra R. Edwards was the principal of the new Murray school which opened in 1926.

In 1930, a section to the south was added to Murray almost doubling the size of the school.

By September 1939, Murray had an enrollment of 822 students in grades 7 through 12 with H. E. Hillard as the principal.

The first class of 113 seniors graduated in June of 1940.

The Minnesota Prep School Tournament was held for the first time in 1949, four years after the inaugural public school tournament.

On September 1, 1959, eight Christian Brothers were sent to formally open the school, which enrolled its first class of 280 freshmen and 160 sophomores.

AMMHS graduated its first class in 1962.

In 1963 there were 1100 students enrolled, and Murray was very overcrowded and had double shifts.

A north wing (now the music area) and an adjacent farmhouse served as a home for the Sisters at AMMHS who taught at the school until the move to the new, nearby monastery on a cold, blustery day in January 1965.

The 1970 Hill Pioneers were the school's first state champion

The realities and financial challenges associated with declining enrollment spurred the merger of AMMHS and Hill High School in 1971 to form a coed school located at the Archbishop Murray site.

The 1972 Hill-Murray Pioneers won the program's second title in three years

Private schools hosted their own state tournaments for 26 years prior to joining the high school league in 1974.

In 1975, private schools were admitted to the MSHSL and the playoffs produced a single state champion.

Then in 1978, a new library was built, adding a walkway between the old and new sections of the school.

In 1980, Hill-Murray won its first 27 games and reached the state championship game.

Jeff Whisler became the first former player to coach the Pioneers during the 1987-88 season and coached in two state championship games during his four year tenure.

Craig Johnson, one of the school's best all-time players, played his first of three seasons in green and gold in 1988, and later enjoyed a long professional career in the NHL and Europe.

The two schools had always been linked geographically, but their inclusion in the same conference, combined with the Bears’ first ever postseason defeat of Hill-Murray in 1989, turned this into one of the best rivalries in all of Minnesota.

In 1991, the Pioneers took a team-first, balanced scoring approach all the way to another state title.

Another former player, Steve Rohlik, became the third coach in as many years to take the team to the state tournament in 1993.

In 1995, Hill-Murray helped organize the East Side Showdown holiday tournament at Aldrich Arena, and it turned out to be a blockbuster when the state’s three top-ranked teams were all scheduled in the same round-robin bracket.

In 1997, the Pioneers returned to the state tournament, losing a triple overtime heartbreaker to eventual champion Edina in the semifinal.

A final physical change came in April of 2000 when a new front entrance with 13 offices for staff opened.

Still, some things don’t change; Hill-Murray and White Bear matchups continued to be as passionate as ever, despite the teams not playing in the same conference after 2001 when Hill-Murray entered the new Classic Suburban.

Six years later, the 2008 team did one better, winning the state championship while allowing just four goals the entire playoffs.

In 2012, linemate Jake Guentzel became the first Pioneer to record 50 assists in a season.

In 2013-14 6th graders joined Murray and it will become a middle school.

In 2014, Stillwater defeated Hill-Murray for the first time in postseason play, signaling the start of a new section rivalry.