LaShawn Vaughns knows well the feeling of frustration, but she hasn’t — and won’t — let it stop her from her goals. The UT senior track star over

Vaughns

came a potential heart problem en route to establishing herself as a major contender in MAC competition.

Vaughns, originally from Tampa, Fla., ran through junior and senior high school, chalking up finish times that may have earned her a spot on high-level collegiate track teams. However, one day she discovered she may have had a heart condition, and her athletic career stood in jeopardy. She ended up at Independence Community College in Tampa and pursued opportunities to run for a four-year college.

Vaughns contacted UT to become a prospect, and soon she found herself running as a Rocket, but her potential health issues followed her diligently.

“I just thought it was something minor, something that would have me back running the next day, but they decided to take me to MCO,” she said. “They did an EKG on me, and it didn’t come back so good. So they wanted to take me to Ohio State.”

Kevin Hadsell, director of track and field and cross-country, said Vaughns was experiencing some dizziness and feelings of numbness in her arms. She lost about two years to diagnostics by doctors through the UT Medical Center and the university’s sports care doctors, who attempted to determine the cause. As a result, she was unable to practice or compete.

“She ended up getting a DNA test to see if she was carrying a gene for a particular heart condition,” Hadsell explained. “So after she got here, it was like one setback after the other. She was cleared at first and ran a couple of meets. Finally, going into this year in the fall, we had a meeting with all the doctors … and finally, it was not life-threatening.”

Much better, in fact, is the opportunity Vaughns has to excel in her final year. Her showings have been promising, according to Hadsell, primarily because of her dedication and attitude.

She continues on an “upward trend” after a few meets and is fast becoming “one of the women to beat” in the 100- and 200-yard dashes.

“The great thing about LaShawn is that she’s like always the eternal optimist,” Hadsell said. “She kept believing in herself; she would work out on her own. And finally this year, she got to line up with no worries at all. And during the indoor season, she established herself as one of the top sprinters in the Mid-American Conference.”

Her persistence has paid off; however, Vaughns hopes to up the stakes by pursuing a career in track after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sports management. She anticipates returning to Florida to become a coach or at least hold a position where she can “see the sport and be around the sport.” Like herself, she hopes to propel a “group of kids” to a goal as high as the Olympics, perhaps, much like her childhood ambitions.

“At age 5 or 6, I didn’t even know there was a track team,” Vaughns said. “But when I got, like, between the ages of 8 or 9, I realized there was a track team and I realized I was going to join the track team. I was always going to be a track star; I wanted to be a track star and I was going to be involved in running because I always love to run.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Sports.
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