Penn Relays: Millstone's Liam Murphy is now a Villanova track & field legend

PHILADELPHIA – Last April, Liam Murphy missed the Penn Relays with an illness. He was getting sick a lot, feeling run down and disappointed in his progress as a member of Villanova University’s storied men’s track & field program.

“I definitely wasn’t committed to fully training hard and doing all the things I could have been doing,” Murphy said.

So the Millstone resident and Allentown High School grad laid out a plan with Villanova’s head coach Marcus O’Sullivan, a former world-record holder and Olympian in the mile. It centered around getting more sleep, eating better and a laser-like focus on training.

“He said, ‘It’s up to you if you want to commit, but you have the potential to be really good,’” Murphy said. “I reevaluated what I was doing and changed my habits.”

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Furious sprint, 24 hours after anchoring Villanova distance medley

Did he ever. Murphy is enjoying a breakout junior year that reached new heights Saturday when he anchored Villanova to victory in the 4xmile at the Penn Relays. And he didn’t just break the tape. He roared back from ninth place to first during a furious sprint over the final 150 meters. This was 24 hours after anchoring Villanova’s distance medley to second place with a 4:03 split for 1600 meters.

“It was surreal,” Murphy said. “(Friday's distance medley) didn’t really come out the way we wanted – I was in a similar spot and I unfortunately lost. I think I went (to kick) too early. Today the plan was definitely to wait.”

So he waited, and waited, and waited. At the end of a tactical anchor leg (his victorious split would be 4:10), there were seven runners in the lead pack as they rounded the final turn.

“I got a little nervous that I was too far behind,” Murphy said. “I trusted what my coach was saying – relax and be the last one to go –and it worked out.”

Sub-4 mile bucket list achievement

It worked out. You can say that for everything Murphy’s done since the summer. Banking eight hours of sleep per night, he became:

-- The NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional champion in cross country.

-- Big East gold medalist in the 3000 meters indoors.

-- A member of the sub-4 mile club. He ran 3:55.58 indoors.

“That definitely felt special,” he said of breaking 4 minutes. “Probably the biggest thing everyone talks about in distance running in trying to go under 4. It was on my lifetime bucket list. It’s cool to be able to check that off.”

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Add a Penn Relays victory to the list. Murphy ran at the prestigious meet as a junior in high school but didn’t fare well, finishing eighth in the 3000. It was canceled the next two years due to the pandemic, then he was ill last year. It looked like the stars never would align for him at Franklin Field.

Murphy made them align. His comeback in the final lap was a year in the making.

“A coming-of-age moment,” O’Sullivan called it.

One of the biggest prizes in all of track & field is a Penn Relays wheel – a huge, round, ornate wooden plaque awarded to winners of the championship relay races. This was Villanova’s 95th wheel. Murphy has earned his place in the Wildcats pantheon and learned a valuable lesson to boot.

“There are a lot of ups and downs that come with running,” he said. “It’s very easy to lose confidence. But if you put in the work, it adds up. It will definitely pay off.”

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Liam Murphy, Millstone NJ, becomes Villanova track legend at Penn Relays