PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Fifth year distance runner
Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) earned another prestigious honor on Wednesday afternoon when he was named the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Overall Men's Performer of the Year in a vote by the sports information directors of the Philadelphia area colleges and universities. Murphy was chosen from a ballot featuring the Academic All-Area Performers of the Year from 12 different sports who had been voted on for those awards earlier in the academic year. Murphy achieved a rare distinction this year by being named the Performer of the Year in both men's cross country and men's track & field.
In the 20-year history of the Academic All-Area program, Murphy is just the fourth student-athlete from Villanova and third men's student-athlete to be named the Overall Performer of the Year. He joins previous winners
Brian Karalunas from men's lacrosse (2010-11),
Stephanie Schappert from women's track & field (2014-15) and
Collin Gillespie from men's basketball (2021-22). Murphy is the only men's athlete in school history to be the Performer of the Year in both cross country and track & field during their careers, let alone in the same year.
The honor of being named to an Academic All-Area Team and being voted a sport Performer of the Year is no small achievement, as student-athletes must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher in addition to being among their team's top performers on a conference and/or national level.
Murphy's collegiate career was one for the ages, and the record books. He wrapped up his collegiate eligibility with the 2025 outdoor collegiate season and put an exclamation point on his career by setting the all-time NCAA record in the 1500 meters with a lifetime best mark of 3:33.02 on March 27 at a race in Raleigh, N.C. Murphy tied the Villanova men's records for career All-America honors (nine) and career BIG EAST titles (12) during the outdoor season and concluded the year by qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 1500 meters for the third straight year.
The collegiate record in the 1500 meters is just one of several records that Murphy set during his collegiate career. He is the Wildcats absolute record holder in the 3000 meters (7:35.47) and the 5000 meters (13:10.42), with those marks each being recorded during the 2024-25 indoor campaign. He is also Villanova's indoor school record holder in the mile (3:53.85) and ran on school record relays in the distance medley relay (9:20.44) and the 4xMile relay (15:51.91). The latter race came at the 2024 Penn Relays where Murphy anchored a 4xMile lineup which posted the second-fastest time in world history and set the Penn Relays, Franklin Field, collegiate and Villanova records.
Murphy owns the fastest time in school history on a 10,000 meter cross country course – 28:55.7 – which he recorded this past year with a ninth place finish at the NCAA Championships. He is the Villanova Stadium record holder in the 1500 meters (3:39.00), the 5000 meters (13:43.32) and the 4x800 meter relay (7:17.96).
In addition to the school records he set this past indoor season, Murphy won BIG EAST titles in the 3000 meters and the distance medley relay. It was the third straight year that he won the 3K in addition to anchoring a champion DMR squad. He went on to earn first team All-America honors in the 3K and second team All-America status in the 5000 meters at the indoor NCAA Championships.
Murphy graduated from Villanova in 2024 with a major in Economics and minor in Communication. He enrolled in graduate school during his final year of athletic eligibility in 2024-25 to pursue his MBA from the Villanova School of Business. Murphy was the winner of the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award in men's cross country for the 2023-24 academic year and he has been a three-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team. He was named the Villanova Male Senior Student-Athlete of the Year in 2023-24 and is a five-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher.
