RICHMOND, Ky. – EKU track and field will travel to Louisville to compete in the Jim Vargo Invitational hosted by Bellarmine on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5 for the Colonels' third outdoor meet of the season.
EKU enters the meet nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA polls with the men checking in at 23
rd and the women in 30
th, respectively, both being higher than either team achieved in 2024.
The Colonels return to action in the Commonwealth after a historic showing at the Raleigh Relays headlined by
Kristian Imroth who set the stop time in the NCAA in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8 minutes, 33.56 seconds.
Imroth's performance earned him his first ASUN Conference Track Athlete of the Week honor in the 2025 outdoor season.
Joining him on the men's side was
Justine Kipkoech who ran the third-fastest time in program history in the 5,000-meter at 13:33.87, Jan Badia posted the second fastest time in EKU history in the 1,500-meter with a time of 3:41.78, and
Aniol Borras ran a time of 1:48.23 in the 800-meter for the fourth best time in program history.
On the women's side,
Bahiya El Arfaoui set two new program records in Raleigh with a 4:11.95 time in the 1,500-meter which places her 4
th currently in the national performance lists, and a 2:04.51 in the 800 which puts her in 7
th nationally.
Edna Chelulei set a program record of her own en route to ASUN Freshman of the Week honors with a time of 32:22,8 in the 10,000-meter while
Karin Gosek kept Steeple U rolling with a time of 10:17.19 in the 3,000m steeplechase, the third best time in program history.
Athletes to Watch Out For
JJ Love returns to the circle for the second time this outdoor season after setting a school record in the hammer throw at the EKU Spring Meet to open the season with a mark of 52.79m (173'-2.0"). He is slated to compete in the hammer, shot put, and discus.
Lariah Wooden will also make her second appearance of the outdoor season as the freshman opened her 2025 campaign with a mark of 14.01m (45'-11.75") in the shot put to take first at the EKU Spring Meet, setting the second-best mark in program history behind Angie Barker (1986) at 51'-11.25".
Steeple U will be in action this weekend as on Friday,
German Vega,
Tomas Vega,
Cesc Boix, and
Keeton Thornsberry will take part in the men's 3000m steeplechase.
The race will be the 2025 outdoor debut for German and
Tomas Vega as Thornsberry and Boix ran at the Raleigh Relays running times of 9:03.50 and 9:10.16 respectively.
Live Results
Jim Vargo Invitational – EKU Entrants
Friday, April 4
Saturday, April 5
| Time (ET) |
Event |
Athlete |
| 10 AM |
W – Shot Put |
Ava Phillips, Lexi Lawless, Lariah Wooden |
| 10 AM |
M – Discus |
JJ Love, Evan Smith, Kyle Marcua, Cooper Brummett |
| 12 PM |
M – 110m Hurdles |
Javon Adams |
| 12:30 PM |
M – Shot Put |
JJ Love, Kyle Maruca, Evan Smith, Matt See |
| 12:30 PM |
W – Discus |
Ava Phillips, Kristan Simmons, |
| 1:30 PM |
M – Long Jump |
Brandon Snell, Austin Miller, Baker Green |
| 2 PM |
W – High Jump |
Caroline Hooper |
| 2 PM |
M – 400m |
Brandon Snell, John Cooley, Tye Stevens |
| 2:15 PM |
W – 400m |
Mallory Hodge, Irene Rubio-Miralles, Bryce Alan Thonrsbury |
| 2:30 PM |
M – 100m |
Baker Green |
| 3 PM |
M – Javelin |
Cooper Brummett, Javon Adams |
| 3 PM |
M – 800m |
Aidan Herman, Jacob Tapscott |
| 3:20 PM |
W – 800m |
Natalie Kiefer |
| 4:10 PM |
M – 200m |
Baker Green, Tye Stevens, Austin Miller |
| 4:30 PM |
W – 200m |
Mallory Hodge |
| 4:30 PM |
M – Triple Jump |
Javon Adams |
| 5:10 PM |
W – 5000m |
Khadija Ennasri |
