ETSU sophomore Ben Varghese picked up his second accolade in two days last Thursday, as the Southern Conference announced its first indoor track and field athletes of the week.
Varghese earned the SoCon Men’s Track Athlete of the Week — one of four awards given weekly by the conference to honor the best male and female performers on each, the track side and the field side. Earlier in the week, Varghese was named the SoCon Student Athlete of the Week. Varghese carries a 3.809 GPA as an academic focus major.
Varghese had a stellar weekend during ETSU’s opening track meet in Johnson City at the ETSU Track and Field Invitational. The former Daniel Boone cross country and track standout ran in the 3000m event, taking gold with a time of 8:16.53 while beating the second-place runner by over 23 seconds.
At the conclusion of the ETSU Invitational, Varghese’s time ranked No. 5 in the nation, according to the TFRRS collegiate 3K time rankings. He now ranks 26th — fifth among sophomores and first among runners from schools in the state of Tennessee.
Varghese scored another victory in the Gamecock Inaugural this past weekend, winning the 3000m event with a time of 8:17.07. ETSU’s James Garst, who ran with Varghese at Daniel Boone, finished fifth and set a new personal best with a time of 8:46.89.
