Villanova University track star Liam Murphy recently lowered his personal best running time by three seconds.

That’s made all the difference, qualifying him as one of the best runners in Villanova’s history and putting him on track for this summer’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials, writes Brooke Ackerman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The senior’s personal best in the 1500 meters was 3:36:48, which he picked up during the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, on April 13.

He runs this week in the Penn relays Championship America.

“You get to a point where there’s diminishing returns and when you do improve it’s by 10s or half-a-second. So for him to take a three-second leap is a huge quantum leap,” said Villanova men’s track coach Marcus O’Sullivan.

Murphy’s time was the second-fastest recorded by a Villanovan in a collegiate race. It was the sixth fastest absolute time in school history for the 1500 meter.

In high school he was playing soccer but decided in his junior year in high school to go for track in college when he saw the success his brother was having with running.

That shift in focus has really paid off.

Read more about Liam Murphy’s success in track in The Philadelphia Inquirer.