By Aniyah Cusseaux — Staff Writer
Sarahvaughn King etched her name into the history books of the renown San Jose State track and field program.
With only a few collegiate track meets under her belt, the sophomore set a new record for the indoor 400-meter dash with a record time of 56.46 seconds on Feb. 2 at the Colorado Invitational.
“It’s really motivating,” King said. “I know I have a lot more time here, so to be able to do that as a sophomore just makes me wonder about all the other accomplishments I want to make going forward.”
Becoming a school record holder is something that a lot of student athletes desire — it gives them something to strive for.
The director of track and field and cross country, Kendra Reimer-Gonzales, also believes that this is a major accomplishment for athletes to work for and likes to celebrate every athlete’s milestone.
“I’m really proud of her,” Reimer-Gonzales said. “She’s been making the commitment and making the changes to hit these marks.”
King has been running the 400m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m since she was 8. It was King’s incredibly quick feet that got the 5-foot-9 athlete into running when she was younger.
As a child, King always beat her older brother in races and even made a little money off her talents.
“My brother is like a little entrepreneur,” King said. “He used to ask me to come play with him and he’d race his friends and if he beat them, then he knew that I could beat them. When I beat them he would make money off me.”
When their mother found out, she figured King was fast for her age if she was out-running the older kids. This realization motivated King’s mom to sign her up and begin the track phenom’s career.
Running competitively at a young age prepared the sophomore for her Division I track and field career.
There were a lot of thoughts running through King’s head before her record-breaking race, but while she was running she was able to calm her thoughts and focus.
“I was just thinking about executing my race and just not being in my head too much,” she said.
King successfully achieved her goal of running close to 56 seconds at the invitational. In order to reach this accomplishment she had a mindset to “get after it.”
When it comes to training, King has weightlifting twice a day and two-three hours of track practice.
The athletes also go through a summer program and a fall training regimen, along with year-round practices and a strict nutrition plan to maintain in-season form.
Transitioning from a high school level to a college level can be a little bumpy, but she learned how to manage her time wisely and be more mature.
“She’s very quiet, but she’s a phenomenal athlete,” Reimer-Gonzales said. “She is really committed to her track and field as well as her academics.”
Like any athlete, King needs to get into the zone before she competes. Prior to her meets, she likes to pray and eat sugary snacks to give her a boost of energy before she gets out there.
“My favorite part about running track is just competing,” King said. “I just love to see all the effort that I put in actually come to fruition during a meet. To see that all the hard work that I put in actually got me to where I wanted to go.”
For the next indoor and outdoor season, King hopes to be an All-American at the NCAA Championship in May in both the 200m and 400m.
For her future, King dreams of going pro, but at the moment she wants to enjoy her collegiate career so she can get more experience.
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