Bio entering 2016 season
Karoly Varga enters his second season as an assistant track and field/cross country coach at San Diego State. Varga, who spent the previous four years at Louisiana Monroe, coaches the Aztec mid-distance and distance runners, including the cross country team this fall.
In his first year in 2015, Varga led the Aztecs to three team victories in the cross country season, their most team in a single season in the Mountain West era (since 1999). The wins came at the Mark Covert Classic on Sept. 5, the Aztec Invitational on Sept. 18 and the UNLV Invitational on Oct. 3.
Varga helped Elaine Ribeiro be SDSU's top runner in six of the seven races, including two individual wins (Aztec Invite and UNLV Invite), a runner-up finish (Mark Covert Classic) and a third-place finish (Oct. 17 at the Highlander Invitational). On Sept. 22, Ribeiro became San Diego State's first Mountain West Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week since 2012.
The team would ultimately finish ninth at the MW Championships (the lone race Ribeiro did not finish) and 25th out of 35 at the NCAA West Regional.
During the indoor campaign, Varga coached Ellison Grove to a school record in the 800 (2:09.67 at altitude), and helped the distance medley relay team of Rachel Roesgen, Lisa-Anne Barrow, Grove and Elaine Ribeiro to the second-fastest time (12:06.14) in program history. Additionally, Cassidy Towner (fourth), Lily Seynaeve (fifth) and Roesgen (eighth) all logged top-10 times in the 3,000.
In outdoor, Grove excelled again, running the sixth-fastest 800 (2:07.74) in school history and qualifying for the NCAA West Regional in the event. She also took third at the MW Championships after finishing sixth at the indoor meet.
Varga had been an assistant track and field and cross country coach with ULM since Aug. 2011, where he created, planned and facilitated all workouts for both the Warhawk women and men's teams. Over his four years at Louisiana Monroe, Varga consistently coached athletes to seasonal and personal bests across numerous events.
Varga helped ULM set three school records in 2014, including indoor marks in the women's 800-meter run, the men's 3K and the men's distance medley relay. At the 2013 outdoor Sun Belt Conference meet, Varga had a runner earn the Men's Most Outstanding Athlete award after becoming the top scorer (26 points) with a first-place finish in the 3K steeplechase, and runner-up showings in the 5K and 10K. The men's distance medley relay team, meanwhile, captured the 2013 Sun Belt indoor DMR. In the 2012 outdoor campaign, Varga had a competitor set a school record in the 10K, which qualified him for the NCAA Championships. During the 2012 indoor season, Varga coached four Warhawk record-setting times, including the men's 3K and 5K, the women's 800 and the women's 4x400, which featured two mid-distance runners. In 2011, Varga was named the Louisiana Cross Country Coach of the Year after guiding the men's team to its first regional ranking in program history, culminating with a qualifier for the NCAA Championships.
Varga also has had coaching stints at FH Club in Iceland (volunteer track and field coach) from 2008-10, Western State (volunteer assistant cross country coach) in 2006, Louisiana Tech (volunteer cross country and track and field coach) from 2005-06 and Cedar Creek High School (assistant boys and girls distance coach) from 2005-06.
As an athlete, Varga was a three-time Western Athletic Conference finalist in the 1,500 meters (2003-05) at Louisiana Tech, including a second-place finish in 2004. He also competed at the NCAA cross country regional meet every year at LA Tech. Post-collegiately, Varga was the second-ranked Hungarian athlete in the 1,500 in 2007. In the prep ranks, Varga was a 10-time Hungarian national champion, setting Hungarian high school records in the 1K, 1,500 and the 4x1,500 relay along the way.
Varga graduated with a pair of bachelor degrees of science at Louisiana Tech, first in business management in 2005 and then accounting in 2006.