Liam Murphy does it again as Villanova sets a national 4xMile record on the final day of the Penn Relays

Villanova’s Liam Murphy got the better of Virginia’s Gary Martin for the second day in a row, and this time he helped make history.

After facing off in the anchor leg of Friday’s distance medley relay, the two big men’s college stars of these Penn Relays met Saturday in the 4xMile. Martin led the entire anchor leg until the last turn when Murphy surged past him to give the Wildcats a dramatic victory.

Villanova’s team time of 15 minutes, 51.91 seconds — courtesy of Sean Donoghue, Charlie O’Donovan, Marco Langon, and Murphy, in that order — broke the national record in the event, and was the second-fastest time in world history. The 4xMile isn’t too common, but it’s still a neat achievement.

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All three of the top finishers had the first sub-16-minute times in American history. Virginia clocked 15:52.30, and Georgetown came in at 15:52.56.

“I feel like that’s what everyone wants to see, the sub-16, so it’s cool for it to finally happen here,” Murphy said. “I was watching all those guys go around, and the pace was there, so I just figured if I got the baton and the pace kept going, we would be able to do it.”

That didn’t mean it was easy. The anchor leg of a 4xMile relay has to wait a long time to get the baton, then be patient on the track to nail the finishing kick.

“It’s definitely a lot of pressure, just waiting,” Murphy said. “The [distance medley relay], you’ve got, like, five minutes until you get the baton, but with the 4xMile, you’ve got, like, 12 minutes. … But it’s inspiring to see my guys go around the laps and they’re all fighting to be in a good spot.”

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Martin and Murphy haven’t raced against each other too often, in part because Martin is a sophomore while Murphy is a senior. There won’t be too many more opportunities before Murphy graduates, but Martin said he’s looking forward to the ones that there will be.

“I’m going to keep it in the back of my head and hopefully just learn from it, watch what he does well,” said Martin, who starred in high school at Archbishop Wood. “Because clearly, he’s an incredible racer. Hopefully, I can get better and have my crack at him at regionals and nationals.”

There were some upsets in the Olympic development races. Bryce Deadmon, a 2021 Olympic gold medalist and 2022 world champion in the 4x400, was beaten by Jamaica’s Karayme Bartley in the men’s 400-meter sprint; and Philadelphia-based Ajee’ Wilson was topped in the women’s 800 by Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi.

But it’s early in the season, and it was Wilson’s first major race since last summer’s U.S. championships.

“I’m happy to be healthy, and in front of a home crowd,” she said. “I know this next month, what I need to do to get ready and be prepared for trials.”

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Penn alum Nia Akins got her work in by running in the 1,500, moving up from her usual 800. She said she’ll go back to her usual distance now to get ready for the Olympic trials in June, but didn’t rule out returning to the longer run.

“It’s growing on me,” she said after a fifth-place finish. “I think the more I do it and the more I like it, the more success I have in it. … But it is a challenging distance for me, and feeling like I conquered it, I think that’s going to be huge confidence-wise moving forward.”

Saturday’s atmosphere finally felt like it was back to the old days. Vashti Cunningham noticed the buzz while winning the Olympic Development women’s high jump, clearing 1.84 meters (6 feet, ½ inch).

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“Definitely, it came through,” she said. “When I’m just sitting out there and I just see everybody behind me, I hear people screaming my dad’s name, I hear people screaming my name. And I feel like since the pandemic, that’s something that us athletes have not been used to.”

The father she mentioned is former Eagles star quarterback Randall Cunningham, who also noticed the atmosphere as he enjoyed a return to town to coach his daughter.

“Brother, let me tell you something, this track meet is the best track meet that we’ve been to in a long time,” he said. “I mean, even when we go to world track meets, it’s nice, but sometimes the stadiums are not packed with the showing here, and the history here, and with all the Jamaicans here. … It’d be great to have this in California, have it in other states.”

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But it wasn’t lost on anyone that USA Track and Field is holding its meet this weekend, in Bermuda of all places, with stars like Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson and live TV coverage on NBC.

“I remember sitting in the nosebleeds cheering on Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix, so to be able to compete there [at the Relays] was like a huge, big deal,” Wilson said. “I think as time goes on, it’s kind of losing its sparkle and its magic in that way. It’d be awesome if USATF would decide to come back.”

That’s easier said than done, of course, with all the commercial considerations involved. (It’s no coincidence that the big Americans aren’t here when On is the main shoe sponsor, not Nike).

But if the sport’s powers want to make it happen, they can. And they know, as they always have, that while Franklin Field has limitations, the big crowds must matter for a sport that needs all the attention it can get.

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“In order to get everybody together, I guess it would just take cooperation, teamwork, and the understanding that there’s a bigger goal at hand,” said Deadmon, who was at the Relays for the first time and loved it. “If a lot of top-level talent came to one meet on the same weekend, it would drive more revenue, drive a bigger crowd, all of that.”

Villanova also won the college women’s high jump. Roschell Clayton cleared 1.83 meters, giving the Wildcats their first title in the event since 1996.

Former Neumann Goretti star Sydni Townsend ran the first leg of Houston’s 4x400-meter win, in her final Relays trip as a collegian.

“It’s one of the greatest things,” she said. “Because I’ve been coming here to Penn Relays since I was [9 years old]. I ran in high school, and then to come back [for] my last ever Penn Relays race to win, it’s just — honestly, it’s amazing, it’s fantastic.”

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Jamaican schools swept the high school boys’ championships: Excelsior in the 4x100, Kingston College in the 4x400, and Jamaica College in the 4x800 with a huge final-lap comeback.

And in an event that always draws some of the weekend’s biggest cheers, 86-year-old Bob Williamson of the Potomac Valley Track Club (in the D.C. area) won the men’s masters age 85-and-older 100-meter dash for the second straight year. He finished in 17.71 seconds, not far off last year’s time of 17.50.

The event’s oldest competitor, 96-year-old Edward Cox of the Syracuse (N.Y.) Chargers, finished third in the four-man field in 25.47.