Brent Vaughn

Position:
Distance
Height:
6-0
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Aurora, Colo.
High School:
Smoky Hill

BRENT VAUGHN

Distance

Senior, 4L/3L

Aurora, Colo. (Smoky Hill)

PERSONAL BESTS

Indoor:

3,000-Meter: 8:04.21 (2007)

5,000-Meter: 13:38.30 (2005)

Outdoor:

800-Meters: 1:54.02 (2005)

1,500-Meters: 3:44.38 (2005)

5,000-Meters: 13:30.12 (2007)

10,000-Meter: 30:28.17 (2006)

BIG 12 SCORING:

2004 (I) 5,000-Meter Run, 4^th (14:18.27)

2005 (I) 3,000-Meter Run, 1^st (8:05.90)

2005 (I) 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (13:59.55)

2005 (O) 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (13:53.01)

2006 (I) 3,000-Meter Run, 1^st (8:04.03)

2006 (I) 5,000-Meter Run, 2^nd (13:56.81)

2006 (O) 10,000-Meter Run, 1^st (30:28.17)

2007 (I) 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (13:48.74)

2007 (O) 1,500-Meter Run, 4^th (3:47.92)

2007 (O) 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (14:21.46)

NCAA MIDWEST REGION CHAMPIONSHIP SCORING:

2005 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (13:59.39)

2007 5,000-Meter Run, 1^st (13:57.36)

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCORING:

2005 (O) 5,000-Meter Run, 4^th (13:40.11)

HONORS:

2005 NCAA Outdoor 5,000-Meter All-American

2006 NCAA Indoor 5,000-Meter All-American

2006 NCAA Outdoor 5,000-Meter All-American

2008 OUTLOOK: Brent has the third fastest 5,000-meter time at CU and is in very exclusive company. He hopes to threaten the school record, score very highly at the NCAAs and advance to the finals of the Olympic Trials.

2007: Vaughn continued to show he’s one of the top distance runners in the country during the 2007 season. He ran twice during his final indoor season. He was second in the 3,000 at the Husky Classic and recorded a mark of 8:04.21, which was a personal best. Vaughn won the 5k conference crown in 13:48.67, which broke a five-year old Big 12 record of 13:51.32, set by former CU harrier Jorge Torres in 2002. It was the fourth-straight year CU won the 5k and the fifth-time in six years. Vaughn also won 5k in 2005. Vaughn advance to the NCAA Championships with the automatic qualifying time, but was unable to finish the race when his shoe was clipped. The outdoor season saw more success for Vaughn. He race the 800 once, at the Jack Christianson Invite (1:55.10). He earned pr’s in the 1,500 (3:45.71) at Mt. Sac and in the 5k (13:30.12) at the Stanford Invite. His mark in the 5k was the fourth best in CU history, just behind Torres (twice) and Dathan Ritzenhein. It was also one of the top marks in the country. Vaughn earned two more All-Big 12 honors in the spring. He finished fourth in the 1,500 (3:47.92) and won the 5k (14:21.46) for a sweep of the event for the year. Vaughn also won the regional 5k title, marking the second time he had won the race. Vaughn set the meet record with a 13:57.36 finish, breaking his former record of 13:59.39, set in 2005. Vaughn went on to the national championship, but once again experience bad luck in the race and dropped to 15^th after leading the race the majority of the way.

2006: Vaughn came back from a redshirt cross country season to excel in both indoor and outdoor campaigns. Vaughn recorded the second best time for the Buffs in the 3k during the indoor season at 8:04.03 to win his second straight Big 12 Indoor 3k title. He also won the 3k at the Air Force Invite (8:30.93). Vaughn was one of three Buffs to record marks in the 5k under 13:49 in the same meet when he crossed the finish in 13:48.67. In doing so, he also earned a regional qualifying mark, pr and the third best time for a Buff in 2006 in the 5k. Vaughn took second in the 5k at the Big 12 Championships. He ran to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA championship (14:12.60). During the outdoor season, Vaughn mainly concentrated on the 5k, but ran the 800, 1,500 and 10k. Vaughn notched a regional qualifying time of 13:44.79 in the 5k at the Cardinal Invite and placed eighth overall. He took third at regionals with a time of 14:21.49. Vaughn ran a time of 14:03.12 in the prelims at nationals, and took 10^th overall in the finals (14:26.79). He ran a pr in the 800 (1:54.02) at the Colorado Invite. Vaughn earned a 10^th-place finish at Mt. Sac in the 1,500. At the Big 12 Championship, Vaughn made his collegiate track debut in the 10k, and was the first CU men’s athlete to win the event since 1986. He ran it in 30:28.17 and under extremely humid conditions.

2005: Vaughn dominated his races during the indoor season, competing in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. He ran the 3k twice in the season, once at the Air Force Classic (8:20.56) and once at the Big 12 Indoors (8:05.90) both times crossing the tape first. In the 5k race he ran an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 13:38.30 for second-place at the Husky Classic and an NCAA preliminary qualifying time of 13:59.55 at the Big 12 Indoors for first place. At the NCAA Championships Vaughn finished in eighth-place with his time of 13:50.62. He continued his success in the outdoor season while competing in the 800, 1,500 and 5k races. In the 800 race, he set a personal record of 1:57.14 at the Colorado Invitational to finish seventh. He also set personal records in the 1,500 (3:44.38) and the 5k (13:39.69) at the Mt. SAC Relays and Cardinal Invitational, respectively. Those finishes were good enough to earn him a regional qualifying spot. He took first-place in the 5k in both the Big 12 Championships (13:53.01) and the NCAA Midwest Regionals (13:59.39), solidifying himself a spot in the NCAA Championships where he turned in a fourth-place time of 13:40.11 to earn All-American status.

2004: Vaughn competed in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs during the indoor season. He ran the team’s sixth-best 3k while at the Adidas Classic to finish third overall with an 8:07.72. His first collegiate win on the track came at the Air Force Classic when he posted an 8:30.53, while he also ran an 8:33.15 at the Air Force Invite to claim runner-up. In his lone 5k race, he earned scoring points for CU by placing third in the Big 12 Championship finals by clocking a 14:18.27. He redshirted the outdoor campaign.

CROSS COUNTRY: Vaughn was an All-Big 12 performer as a freshman and a year later was the first Centennial State native to hold bragging rights as the Buffs’ No. 1 runner since Adam Goucher in ’98. With that distinction he had three runner-up finishes, including a second place effort at the Big 12 Championships, finished fifth at the national qualifying race before a career-best fourth-place All-American effort at the 2004 NCAA Championships in pacing CU to the national title. Vaughn redshirted the 2005 season. Vaughn picked up where he left off in 2006 by leading CU to its second NCAA title in three years. He led the Buffs by finishing 12^th overall in 31:13.0. He was CU’s top finisher twice in 2006. His other came at the Big 12 Championship with a third-place finish. Vaughn was ninth at the Mountain Regions as CU’s No. 2 harrier. Vaughn finished his career in 2007 as CU’s top racer. He won his very first collegiate cross country race at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, defeating the defending champion. Vaughn’s wife won the women’s race and both were named CU Athlete of the Week. Vaughn placed fourth overall at pre-nats (CU’s No. 2) but came right back with another victory at the Big 12 meet. It was the first conference title from him and was the first time in four years the Buffs won the individual title. Vaughn was the second harrier to finish for CU at regionals, placing seventh (just behind Stephen Pifer, sixth, and just ahead of Kenyon Neuman, eighth). Vaughn finished his tremendous cross country career at Colorado by placing fifth at nationals. It was the second time in his career that he finished in the top five. He is a four-time All-Big and three-time all-region and All-American selection.

HIGH SCHOOL: Vaughn was a two-year letterwinner in cross country and three-year recipient in track at Aurora’s Smoky Hill. As a junior he was the Colorado State 5A champion in cross and the 3,200-meter run, and was runner-up in the 1,600. He successfully defended his 3,200 title as a senior and took runner-up distinction in the 1,600 and cross country championships. He graduated from Smoky Hill with prep records in the 1,600 (4:14), 3,200 (8:45) and 5k (15:16). He was also recruited by Wisconsin, Stanford and Washington.

ACADEMICS: An applied math major at Colorado, he carries a respectable 3.34 cumulative grade point average into his fourth season. He is a seven-time member of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

PERSONAL: Brent Vaughn was born September 4, 1984 in Sterling, Colo. His parents are Brad and Debbie Vaughn of Aurora. His older sister, Audra, is an artist and his younger sister, Danae, goes to Smoky Hill. He would like to pursue a professional running career following his time at CU. Vaughn married fellow cross country/track and field teammate, the former Sara Ensrud, on July 28, 2007 in Boulder. They welcomed a daughter, Ciara Grace, on Sept. 23, 2006.