Liam Murphy has serious mid-range pace.
In March 2025, Liam Murphy ran the fastest 1500 meters by an NCAA athlete, breaking the NCAA record of 3:33:71 by Eliud Kipsang and 3:33:41 indoors by Gary Marathon. Liam ran 3:33;02.
Liam Murphy, coached by the great Marcus O’Sullivan at Villanova, clocked just under 4 minutes in the mile in 2023. In 2024, Liam lowered his 1500 meters to 3:36 and then placed 9th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall.
Liam Murphy told RunBlogRun that he enjoys cross country and plans to compete in the USA Cross Country Championships in Portland, Oregon on December 6, 2025.
Liam Murphy now competes for the new NIKE club, the Swoosh Track Club, and is based in Flagstaff, Arizona. His training partners include Woody Kincaid, Liam Murphy, Maggie Congdon, Parker Wolfe, Elise Stearns, Ethan Strand and Yussuf Bismani. The coaching staff of Mike and Rachel Smith lead the Swoosh TC Flagstaff team.
We asked LIam, who with his experience in cross country from 1,500m to 10,000m (Liam went to high school in Allentown, PA, a town where I lived in the 1980s), was a good person to ask for advice for budding runners.
Here’s the advice Liam Murphy gave to RunBlogRun on November 22, 2025 at NXR Southwest in Mesa, Arizona:
#In the mixed zoneLiam Murphy, NCAA 1500m record holder, 3:30.33, now a Nike member. #SwooshTC. Liam gave us a clue #howtobeabettercrosscountryrunner, #thejourneytocompete, #NXRS Southwest!, #nike, #nikerunning , #LiamMurphy, #long distance:, pic.twitter.com/tuvPPRi17V
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) November 23, 2025
