Kiki Vaughn, ‘24, is a cross-country and track athlete who competes for the Boulder High Panthers. Currently, she holds the school record for the 800-meter race which is a track event. Vaughn broke this record in last year’s season. She also placed 4th in state last season when competing in the 800 which she calls her “best event”. Due to her impressive abilities when it comes to running, she recently committed to being a D1 runner at Northern Arizona University and will begin to attend there next fall.
Vaughn says that she got into running originally because her parents were both professional runners but didn’t start taking the sport seriously until she was a sophomore in high school. Up until that point, running came second to her preferred sport of dance which she was competing in at the time. She says “I wouldn’t go to [cross country] practices much because I was dancing.” Until her sophomore year, she “wasn’t a super big fan of running.”
Vaughn has been an asset to the Boulder High School track and cross-country teams, keeping it positive and being a motivated runner. Her success at the BVSD level as well as higher levels, earned her the achievement of the Boulder Colorado Runner of the Year 2022 awarded by the Daily Camera.
At the 2023 track state championships which took place in May, Vaughn broke the school record for the 800-meter race with a time of 2:13.10. The previous record for the girls 800-meter race was set in 2016 and was run in 2:15.65. Vaughn also has the second-best time at Boulder High in the 1600-meter race with a time of 4:59.44 and is shy a little over 1 second of the school record. When asked what her proudest moment has been as a runner, despite her impressive performances, she said “I think my proudest moment is just seeing how my team improved this year and everything we accomplished together.”
Running is a sport that many people dislike due to the physical strain it brings. Vaughn says that for anyone who is trying to get into running it is important to “be very patient with the sport” as well staying consistent. “If you’re patient and consistent you will definitely find the appeal and start improving yourself.”
Even though Vaughn is an accomplished runner, she says she still experiences negative thoughts when racing on occasion. In order to push through that negativity during races, Vaughn tells herself “Everyone is hurting, it’s not just you” and “It’s going to hurt anyways, so see how badly you can make it hurt by running faster.” Vaughn says another way she keeps on top of the negativity that comes with playing sports is by journaling as well as setting goals for herself. Finding mentors and people to look up to also helps her when combating negativity and staying motivated. Vaughn says she looks up to her parents and teammates but lately has been looking up to her future teammates at Northern Arizona University. She also says her competitors keep her motivated and she looks up to many of them.
Vaughn’s running journey has not been anywhere close to easy or exclusively successful. Vaughn has been overcoming the challenge of learning about her immunity and allergies. She says her newfound allergies are causing her to be “sick all the time” and that being sick all the time is really impacting her performance during races. Most recently she struggled at the 2023 cross country state competition due to being very sick. She says “It was difficult to not be able to run my best after training so hard all season and becoming really fit.” In order to push through disappointing running moments like these Vaughn says she reminds herself that “It’s ok to be upset about a race and there will be other opportunities in the future.”
In terms of what is to come for Vaughn, she hopes to find success at Nike running regionals in Arizona in order to make it to nationals as well as doing everything she can to prepare for her upcoming season as a D1 college athlete.
