Hall of Fame
Luis Vargas was Elon’s first men’s cross country Division I All-American, placing 25th at the NCAA Championships in 2014. He was also the CAA Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year as a senior, the CAA Most Outstanding Performer, and earned the Basnight Outstanding Male Athlete award following the 2014-15 school year.
As a senior, Vargas won every race he competed in up until the NCAA Championships. He was the NCAA Southeast Region Athlete of the Year after winning the regional championship and posted the second fastest 8,000 time in school history at 24:11.37, doing so at the CAA Championship that year. He was Elon’s first individual champion upon entering the CAA.
At the NCAA Championships, Vargas placed 25th with a time of 30:45.0 and was the top finisher among CAA competitors as well as the top finisher from the state of North Carolina. At the 8,000-meter split, Vargas sat in 38th place but climbed 13 spots over the final 2,000 meters.
Vargas ran the fastest 10,000 time in school history at the 2013 Southeast Regional, finishing at 29:46.5. For his effort, he was named NCAA All-Southeast Region. As a sophomore in 2012, Vargas posted a sixth-place finish at the Southern Conference Championships, the best finish in program history at that time. He was 10th as a freshman in 2011.
In total, Vargas was a three-time first team all-conference performer and earned second team recognition as a freshman.
