Sara Vaughn Takes 3rd at Inaugural US Road Mile Championship

Follows last weekend’s 4:15.65 PB at Cardinal Invitational

May 8, 2009

Sara Vaughn continued her strong spring season last night by grabbing third place in the first-ever USATF one-mile road championship in Minneapolis. The podium finish comes on the heels of her latest PB, a 4:15.65 effort in the 1500m at last Saturday’s Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, California.

“This is one of the most exciting events I’ve ever done,” said Sara. “The entire way was crazy, lots of folks out cheering, all the bars along the course were full. In the race, I had to let Shannon [Rowbury] and Sara [Hall] go early, as they are still just a bit too strong for me. But I concentrated on making my kick with 300m to go, and it worked perfectly. I’m feeling really strong every week now at the end of my races.”

A University of Colorado grad, Sara has returned to the race scene in better-than-ever form following the birth of her daughter in 2007 and a 2008 injury that cut short her season. Next up she and coach Jay Johnson will work out the next steps of her outdoor season, which will likely include another couple of races before the US nationals in late June in Eugene, Oregon, followed by some meets on the European circuit this summer.

For video of Thursday night’s elite races, please check out Flotrack’s site.