NEW ORLEANS—Villanova distance runner
Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) made program history on Thursday afternoon when he became the Wildcats first men's athlete ever to be named to the Watch List for The Bowerman which is awarded to the top male and female collegiate track & field athlete each year. Murphy earned a spot on Thursday's newest release of the Watch List after he set the NCAA record in the 1500 meters at the Raleigh Relays last month.
Murphy is enjoying another sensational year of competition on the track, beginning in December when he broke the absolute school record in the 5000 meters with a lifetime PR of 13:10.42 in Boston. He later broke his own school record in the 3000 meters by more than seven seconds when he ran 7:35.47 in Boston in February. Murphy also posted a time of 3:54.61 in the mile during the 2025 indoor season. He went on to be the BIG EAST champion in the 3000 meters and anchored the team's distance medley relay to a conference gold medal.
To close the indoor season, Murphy was an All-American indoors in both the 3000 meters (fourth) and the 5000 meters (11
th, second team). He is the third Villanova runner with multiple career top four national finishes in the 3K. His only race thus far during the outdoor campaign was the historic finish at the Raleigh Relays where he and teammate
Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) each crossed the finish line below the previous NCAA record. Murphy won the race in 3:33.02 and Langon was second in 3:33.38, making them 1-2 in history for times recorded during the NCAA competition calendar and 2-3 in the Wildcats record book in terms of absolute times.
Three of the 10 men's athletes named to Thursday's Watch List – Murphy, along with Ishmael Kipkurui from New Mexico and Auhmad Robinson from Texas A&M – are making their career Watch List debuts. Habtom Samuel from New Mexico returns to the list for the fourth time in five releases this year but had not appeared on the most recent update prior to Thursday's announcement.
Murphy's next scheduled competition will be at the Penn Relays next week.
THE AWARD: The Bowerman is bestowed to collegiate track & field's top male and female athlete for the year. The Bowerman Advisory Board, and ultimately, The Bowerman Voters, are instructed to consider performances inclusively from the collegiate indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons only. Cross country results are not within this consideration. The current collective track & field season began on November 29, 2024 and will end on June 14, 2025.
HISTORY: The Bowerman was first awarded in 2009. The first official watch lists were announced in 2010. Villanova women's athlete and five-time NCAA champion
Sheila Reid was a semifinalist for the 2011 award.
ABOUT THE WATCH LIST CONSTRUCTION: Members of The Bowerman Advisory Board produce these watch lists by voting on their current top-10 "who's who" among collegiate track & field athletes. The "watch list" represents the group's consensus top 10 for that update. Those "receiving votes" are listed on at least one member's top 10 but did not garner enough votes to be listed in the consensus top 10. A total of 23 men's athletes received votes for Thursday's Watch List. There are a total of eight watch lists during the season.
UP NEXT: The next update is scheduled to occur Wednesday, May 7 (women) and Thursday, May 8 (men).
