diff --git a/cogs/message_listener/__init__.py b/cogs/message_listener/__init__.py
index 88c4d3f..82b812b 100644
--- a/cogs/message_listener/__init__.py
+++ b/cogs/message_listener/__init__.py
@@ -61,12 +61,11 @@ class SubmissionListener(commands.Cog, name="Message Listener"):
                         score = message.content
                         if is_time_record:
                             # standardize time score format.
-                            # add colon if its not there
+                            # strip leading 0s and colon
+                            # then add colon if its not there
+                            score = score.lstrip("0:")
                             if score.find(":") == -1:
-                                score = "00:" + score
-                            # add a 0 if there isn't 2 digits before a colon
-                            elif len(score.split(":", maxsplit=1)[0]) < 2:
-                                score = "0" + score
+                                score = "0:" + score
                         submission_objects[message.author.id]["score"] = score
                         embed = get_submission_embed(message.author.id)