NEW YORK—A trio of Villanova student-athletes were announced on Monday afternoon as winners of 2023-24 BIG EAST Sport Excellence Awards in recognition of their academic and athletic achievements as well as community service. Rising fifth year collegians Liam Murphy (men's cross country), Roschell Clayton (women's outdoor track & field) and Meghan Mitchell (field hockey) are all winners of this year's award. This is the fifth consecutive year that the Wildcats have had at least three Sport Excellence Award honorees.
 
Following the conclusion of each academic year, the BIG EAST Sport Excellence Awards are presented to one student-athlete in each BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community. Student-athletes who have attained junior academic standing and a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 are eligible. The winners are chosen by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.
 
Since the creation of this honor beginning with the 2009-10 academic year, Villanova has had 45 total winners of Sport Excellence Awards. This includes 21 honorees in the last five years alone, with at least three award winners in each of those years dating back to 2019-20. Mitchell is the Wildcats first field hockey student-athlete to achieve this honor, while the Villanova track & field and cross country program has had both a male and a female student-athlete selected in three of the last four years.
 
While the format of the awards allow for only one declared winner in each sport category, the selection of the recipients proves each year to be a challenge for the FAR Council, as candidate nominees represent exceptional student-athletes who excel in academics, service and athletics, and are outstanding representatives of their schools and the Conference. Villanova is one of three BIG EAST members to earn at least three Sport Excellence Awards in 2023-24.
 
See below for profiles of each of the Wildcats three award winners.
 
Liam Murphy, Men's Cross Country
Murphy is a five-time All-American and holds five school records, four of which were set in a span of five months from December 2023 to April 2024. He has excelled on both the collegiate and American national scenes, most recently advancing to the final of the 1500 meters at this year's U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Murphy is the Villanova absolute record holder in the 3000 meters (7:42.51) and holds indoor school records in both the mile (3:53.85) and the 5000 meters (13:21.20) to go along with being a part of distance medley and 4xMile relay records.
 
As a cross country runner, Murphy has been the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year in each of the past two seasons. That honor represents him being the highest finisher at the NCAA Championships among athletes from the Mid-Atlantic Region; he was also the individual champion at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in both 2022 and 2023 in addition to winning the BIG EAST individual crown this past year. Murphy earned his first career cross country All-America accolade with a 14^th place finish at last season's NCAA Championships.
 
Murphy is a communication major and was chosen this year as one of two Villanova Senior Student-Athletes of the Year. He is a three-time selection to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team, and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher three times.
 
Roschell Clayton, Women's Outdoor Track & Field
Clayton is a three-time All-American high jumper and tallied top-eight NCAA finishes both indoors (tied for sixth place) and outdoors (tied for fifth place) during the 2024 collegiate seasons. She went on to compete on home soil earlier this summer at the Jamaica National Senior Championships where she was the silver medalist in the high jump in the country's Olympic Trials.

In addition to her pair of first team All-America honors this year, Clayton swept the BIG EAST indoor and outdoor high jump titles and was the Penn Relays champion. She set the absolute Villanova record in the high jump at 1.88 meters in Boston in February and then equaled the mark at the indoor NCAA Championships in the same venue one month later. Clayton added an outdoor school record (1.87m) at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June.
 
Clayton graduated magna cum laude from Villanova a semester early in December 2023 and earned her bachelor's degree as a communication major. She is currently pursuing her MBA from the Villanova School of Business. Clayton is a four-time member of both the United States Track & Field and Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team and the BIG EAST All-Academic Team. She was the 2024 PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Women's Track & Field Performer of the Year and was chosen as one of two 2023-24 Villanova Senior Student-Athletes of the Year. Clayton has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all eight of her semesters on campus.
 
Meghan Mitchell, Field Hockey
Mitchell is one of four field hockey athletes in Villanova history to earn All-America status after she was named to the NFHCA All-America second team for the 2023 season. She was last year's BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year while earning her fourth consecutive All-BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic All-Region accolades. Mitchell garnered first team BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic laurels in 2023 to go along with being named to the NFHCA Senior Team and being a five-time BIG EAST weekly honoree during the year.
 
Entering the 2024 campaign Mitchell ranks fifth in school history in career points (108), sixth in career goals scored (44) and tied for 17^th in career assists (20). She owns eight career multi-goal games, including two hat tricks, and scored 16 of her career goals during the 2023 season when she tallied 38 points (16 goals, six assists) and scored a team-high five game-winning goals. Mitchell was the Wildcats first player since 2008 to have at least five game-winning goals in a season, while her career total of nine winners is tied for sixth-most in the Villanova record book.
 
A Finance major, Mitchell has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and the NFHCA National Academic Squad in each of the first four years of her collegiate career. She has also been a member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all eight of her semesters on campus and was voted the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Performer of the Year for 2023-24.