Aces track and field returns to full competition at Jim Vargo Invitational

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a week of split competition, the entire University of Evansville track and field team will compete this weekend at the Jim Vargo Invitational hosted by the Bellarmine Knights.

The Purple Aces will make the short trip southeast to Louisville for the Jim Vargo Invitational on Friday, April 5. UE’s full team will compete this week after a select handful of runners competed in the Raleigh Relays and the WashU Distance Carnival the week prior. Twenty-one teams are expected to compete on Friday including hosts Bellarmine, Berea, Butler, Campbellsville, Cedarville, Georgetown (KY), Illinois Springfield, IUPUI, Louisville, Miami (OH), Morehead State, Ohio, Pikeville, Southern Indiana, Spalding, Transylvania, Trevecca Nazarene, UIndy, Vincennes, and Wright State.

The Aces day will begin at 11 a.m. CT on Friday with the men’s hammer throw. Running events at the Jim Vargo Invitational start at noon CT and will continue until 6:15 p.m. The invitational is named for Bellarmine coach emeritus Jim Vargo who led the Knights to cross country NCAA Championship berths three times in the 2010s.

Last time out, Evansville had a small group of runners compete at both the Raleigh Relays and the WashU Distance Carnival. Freshman runner Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria) set two program records in her only events in Raleigh, running the 400-meter race in 58.97 seconds and the 800-meter race in 2:11.35. Distance runner Samuel Lea (Worchester, England) also set a program record at the WashU Distance Carnival in the 5K race with a time of 15:07.85.