Jim Vargo, the most prominent figure in the history of Bellarmine University cross country/track & field, is a volunteer assistant and coach emeritus at Bellarmine University after previously serving two stints as the director of men’s and women’s cross country and track & field.
A Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Famer, Vargo was a standout distance runner for the Knights before coming back to the university for a distinguished, nearly two-decade stint as a program director and head coach. Vargo first became the director of XC/TF at Bellarmine in 2000 and served in the position until 2015. From 2016-18, he was the head coach of the men's cross country and track & field teams. He was a coach emeritus in the interim before returning to the director position for the 2024-25 school year.
HALL OF FAME CAREER
Vargo was inducted into the Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 for his individual athletic achievements and again in 2010 as a member of the 1982 men’s cross country team that finished seventh at the NCAA II Championships. He was a part of all four Knights men’s XC squads that earned berths in the NCAA II Championships — two as an athlete (1980, 1982) and two as a head coach (2010, 2017).
As an athlete, Vargo earned All-GLVC accolades in cross country in 1980 and 1981. Upon hiring, he still ranked second on the program’s 10k performance list and held the third-fastest 10k time (30:51.3) in program history. In track and field, he was the GLVC’s inaugural winner of the 10000 meters in 1980.
Vargo was a 1983 graduate of Bellarmine and was awarded the Archbishop’s Medal for having the highest GPA (3.95 majoring in mathematics) in the 1982-83 Bellarmine graduating class.
DRIVER OF D2 SUCCESS
During his first stint as director, Bellarmine women’s cross country earned its first-ever bid to the NCAA II Championships in 2012 after winning the GLVC Championships title in 2010. Knights women’s track & field secured three GLVC indoor titles (2012, 2013, 2018) and had four GLVC outdoor runner-up finishes (2011-13, 2016) during his tenure. Vargo was named GLVC Indoor Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2013. He was also recognized as the GLVC Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2012.
During Vargo’s initial turn at the university, Bellarmine women’s and men’s cross country combined to produce five All-Americans. Between indoor and outdoor women’s and men’s track & field, 30 All-Americans were produced.
The Bellarmine track & field teams combined to amass 103 GLVC titles between individual events and relays during Vargo’s earlier tenure. Members of XC/TF accumulated 41 GLVC superlative awards (Runner of the Year, Track or Field Athlete of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year).
BEFORE BELLARMINE
Vargo earned his master’s degree at the University of Tennessee in 1985. He returned home to Louisville to begin his professional career at the University of Louisville where he was a mathematics instructor, assistant cross country/track coach and lead tutor for academic services for the athletics office.
In 1988, Vargo joined the faculty of Georgia Southern University as a full-time mathematics instructor. During his nine-year tenure at Georgia Southern, Vargo was promoted to Assistant Professor, was elected to the Faculty Senate and served on numerous university committees. Vargo was named head men’s and women’s cross country coach at Georgia Southern in 1989 and established the school’s first track & field program in conjunction with its cross country program (which had been added as a varsity intercollegiate sport in 1988).
CHAMPION OF PARALYMPICS
During his days at Georgia Southern, Vargo began a long career that has led to his being one of the world’s leading experts in Paralympic Track and Field. In 1990, Tim Willis, a blind runner, came out for Vargo’s cross country team. Willis, the only blind runner to compete in cross country at an NCAA Division I school, quickly became one of the world’s elite blind runners. The longstanding relationship between coach and athlete (Vargo and Willis) led to Vargo being named an assistant coach and guide runner for the USA Paralympic Teams that competed at the 1992 Barcelona Games, 1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Sydney Games.
As a result of Willis and Vargo’s achievements, they were invited to personally run with then-President Bill Clinton in February of 1994 and carried the torch in the torch relay for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway. Willis and Vargo were selected to run the torch into Atlanta Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games.
In 2000, the United States Association of Blind Athletes named Vargo as their head track and field coach (a position he maintained until 2008), and he was named the head track and field coach for the USA Paralympic Team that competed at the 2002 World Championships.
The Kenyan National Paralympic Committee had Vargo as their Head Paralympic Track and Field Coach for the 2004 Athens Games and the 2008 Bejing Games. In Bejing, Kenya won five gold, three silver and one bronze (all in Track and Field) to sport its highest finish ever at a Paralympic Games.
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