Team USA jersey a perfect fit on Texas A&M’s Shelbi Vaughan
Discus thrower Shelbi Vaughan received her Team USA jersey the day after making the Olympic team. It was a perfect fit.
“I love the blue. I love it,” Vaughan said. “The jersey is awesome. I’m really excited to be able to compete in it. I think it’s when it really gets exciting is when I get to compete in it.”
Vaughan hasn’t slept in the jersey or spent much time admiring it in the mirror. But she can’t wait to wear it.
A little more than a month after graduating from Mansfield Legacy, Vaughan finished fourth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, one spot out of the Olympics. At the 2016 Trials last month, she finished second, securing a spot on the team.
“I tried hard not to cry and get too excited,” Vaughan said. “I tried to hold it together.”
The Azle native leaves for her first Olympics on Friday. She begins competition Aug. 15, with hopes of reaching the final the following day.
Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic enters as the heavy favorite to win gold, having thrown 232 feet, 6 inches this season. Vaughan has a personal-best 211-8 and a 199-3 best this season.
Still, the 2016 Texas A&M graduate believes a medal is possible.
“That’s everybody’s goal,” Vaughan said. “When you get over there, anything can happen. My first goal, with it being my first Olympics, is to make it to the finals. Once I get that done, I’m just going to go for it. I could bust out a huge personal record or the field might not be doing as well. That’s the good thing about throws is anything can happen on any given day.”
Discus throwing is measured by the distance the discus, a circular wooden disk weighing about 2 pounds for women, travels after the thrower releases it from within a small circle. Discus throwers will often rotate several times within the circle before launching the discus.
Vaughan, talked into taking up the discus by her seventh-grade coach, Teresa Moore, became a world-class junior discus thrower in college. She won two NCAA championships in discus for the Aggies, helping them to a team title in 2014.
Vaughan hoped to end her career with a third consecutive NCAA title, but she finished sixth with a throw of 194-7 at Hayward Field in June.
“It was really hard to go there and get sixth, but I know everything happens for a reason,” said Vaughan, who also played volleyball for two seasons at A&M. “I said, ‘Well, I’d rather it happen now than in two weeks at the Olympic Trials.’ Winning the NCAAs, and to have a third title would have been great, but at that point, after I knew I wasn’t going to win, I knew there was a much bigger picture and that was making the Olympic team.”
Vaughan graduated in May, moved back to Azle and started training with Frisco-based throwers coach Adam Setliff, a two-time Olympian in the discus. A couple of adjustments made all the difference for Vaughan.
The “Throw Princess,” as Vaughan calls herself and uses as her Twitter handle, has competed twice more since turning pro. She won the NACAC under-23 Championships in El Salvador three weeks ago with a throw of 187-8 and finished seventh in London two weeks ago in her first IAAF Diamond League meet at 185-8.
A 197-9 throw at the Trials back at Hayward Field got her to the Olympics and changed her life.
“It feels a lot different,” Vaughan said. “Being an Olympian, I’ll go to drive-throughs or to the grocery store, and in my small hometown, people know who I am. It’s kind of crazy. Before they knew who I was, but now even more people do. They know me not just as Shelbi Vaughan from Azle. They know me as Shelbi Vaughan the Olympian.
“It’s still crazy hearing it. Somebody will ask, ‘How does it feel being an Olympian?’ I’ll say, ‘Well, I don’t know yet.’”
She will find out soon enough. Vaughan will not march with her U.S. teammates in the opening cermony, because of the back problems she has had in recent seasons. But her back, which has been “pretty amazing lately,” won’t stop Vaughan from fulfilling her dream.
“I’m so excited,” Vaughan said. “It took a while to calm down, and now my excitement, my nerves are starting to come back a little bit, because it’s really close.”
Charean Williams: 817-390-7760, @NFLCharean
Leaving a Legacy
Mansfield Legacy is only 10 years old. Yet its athlete alums have left quite a mark this year:
▪ Noah Syndergaard, baseball: The New York Mets pitcher became an All-Star last month.
▪ Josh Doctson, football: The TCU receiver was a first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins, the 22nd overall choice.
▪ Rees Odhiambo, football: The Boise State offensive lineman was a third-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks, 97th overall.
▪ Shelbi Vaughan, track and field: The Texas A&M discus thrower qualified for the Olympics, finishing second at the Trials.
This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Team USA jersey a perfect fit on Texas A&M’s Shelbi Vaughan."