Liam Murphy is blessed with serious middle distance speed.
In March 2025, Liam Murphy ran the fastest EVER 1,500 meters for an NCAA athlete, breaking the NCAA record of 3:33:71 by Eliud Kipsang and the 3:33:41 run indoors by Gary Marathon: Liam ran 3:33;02!
LIam Murphy, coached by the great Marcus O’Sullivan at Villanova, just broke 4 minutes for the mile in 2023. In 2024, Liam took his 1,500 meters down to 3:36, and then, in the fall, placed 9th in the NCAA Cross Country Championships!
Liam Murphy told RunBlogRun that he liked cross country and was planning to race the USA Cross Country Championships in Portland, Oregon on December 6, 2025.
Liam Murphy is now competing for the new NIKE club, Swoosh Track Club and is based in Flagstaff, Arizona. His training partners include Woody Kincaid, Liam Murphy, Maggi Congdon, Parker Wolfe, Elise Stearns, Ethan Strand and Yusuf Bizimani ! The coaching team of Mike and Rachel Smith are coacing the Swoosh TC Flagstaff team.
We asked LIam, with his experience from the 1,500 meters to 10,000m cross-country (Liam went to high school in Allentown, PA, a town over from where I lived in the 1980s), was a good one to ask about advice for burgeoning cross country runners.
Here is the advice the Liam Murphy gave to RunBlogRun on November 22, 2025 at the NXR Southwest in Mesa, Arizona:
#IntheMixedZone, Liam Murphy is NCAA record holder at 1,500m, 3:30.33, now a member of Nike #SwooshTC. Liam gave us a tip on #howtobeabettercrosscountryrunner, #thejourneytocompete, #NXRSouthwest, #nike, #nikerunning , #LiamMurphy, #crosscountry, pic.twitter.com/tuvPPRi17V
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) November 23, 2025
