NEW YORK—Junior men's cross country runner Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) was named the BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week in an announcement made by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. Murphy was the top Villanova finisher in a strong field of teams at the Paul Short Run last week. This is the first time in his career that Murphy has garnered weekly BIG EAST recognition.
 
In his second race of the 2022 season Murphy came in fourth out of more than 400 runners at Lehigh last week. He recorded a time of 23:07.6 on the 8,000 meter Goodman Campus Course and crossed the finish line more than 40 seconds faster than his previous best 8K cross country race. His individual finish paced the Wildcats lineup and made him one of four Villanova athletes who were among the top 10 overall finishers.
 
Murphy helped the Wildcats finish second in the team standings at the Paul Short Run and come in ahead of then-No. 17 Georgetown among other nationally-ranked squads in the race. Villanova entered the meet ranked No. 21 nationally and placed just ahead of unranked Utah State as well as the Hoyas. In this week's rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Wildcats ascended back into the top spot in the Mid-Atlantic Region poll and surged four spots to No. 17 in the national Top 30.
 
Friday's race at Lehigh was a remarkably fast one in which each of the top eight runners across the finish line posted times that rank on the all-time top 10 list for 8K races on the course. Murphy's time of 23:07.6 comes in at No. 5 on the course's fastest times, while Villanova senior Charlie O'Donovan (Cork, Ireland) is No. 6 on that list after his time of 23:10.7 which was good for a fifth place finish in last week's race.
 
There is one more meet for the Wildcats before the team turns its attention to postseason competition. The next competition date comes up on October 14 when Villanova runs in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. That meet will be followed by the BIG EAST Championships, the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and the NCAA Championships.