by John Moe
Jared Connaughton passing to Pierre Browne in Beijing
They are two sprinters from opposite sides of the country with a lot in common. They both competed for the University of Texas at Arlington, they both hope to make the Canadian 4×100-metre relay team at this years’ World Athletics Championships in Berlin, and they happen to be the best of friends. Oh, and their names are Jared and Jarid.
Up until recently it was a slam dunk that Jared Connaughton and Jarid Vaughan would both compete in the 100 metres at this year’s Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic. However, like a bolt from the blue, a late invitation to run against triple Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Usain Bolt came for Connaughton, and he just couldn’t pass it up. Speaking on his cell phone while driving near the U.T.A. campus where he trains, he explained, “I just got confirmed for the Festival of Excellence meet in Toronto. The meet will be held on June 11 at the same track where the Canadian championships will be held later this summer.” The native of New Haven, P.E.I. had been looking forward to the Harry Jerome meet. “Running against Usain Bolt… it might not happen again. Any other season and I’d be at the Harry Jerome,” noted April’s Canadian Track and Field Athlete of the Month.
Career highlights for the 23-year-old give an observer plenty of reasons to get excited about Canada’s future in the 100m, 200m, and the sprint relay. In 2008 Connaughton ran a personal best time of 20.34 in the 200m at the National Championships at Windsor, Ont. That performance was also a championship record. At the 100m he has a p.b. of 10.15, run at an NCAA Southlands Conference meet at U.T.A. At last summer’s Olympic Games, he turned heads with a performance of 20.45 in the quarter-final and went on to place seventh in the semi. His 4×100-m relay team went all the way to the final, placing sixth in 38.66.
Jarid Vaughan now sprinting at UT Arlington
The other half of this Canadian dynamic duo, Langley native Jarid Vaughan, has made an impressive start to the 2009 track and field season. On April 11, the U.T.A. junior posted the fastest collegiate 200m in America so far this year, a 20.47 performance at the John Jacobs Invitational in Norman, Okla. Vaughan’s mark was a personal best and the fourth-fastest time in school history. The mark also easily qualified him for the NCAA Regionals. The 24-year-old son of Debbie and Bernie Vaughan ran an impressive 10.23 at the Texas Relays in the 100 meters, also good for the fourth-fastest time in the U.S. and the fourth-fastest all-time at U.T.A.
Even with those blistering times posted by Jarid this year, it’s likely the kinesiology major still has a surprise or two in store. Consider his high school career at R.E. Mountain Secondary in Langley: while posting p.b.s of 10.84, 21.66, and 47.7 (400m), Jarid also captured the Provincial Championship in the high jump with a leap of 2.05 metres. This is something like Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo switching to right wing next season and scoring 40 goals. It was Canadian high school 100-m record holder Peter Ogilvie who coached Jarid in 2004 and convinced him to focus on his sprinting.
With their rapid progressions over the past three years, the future does indeed seem very bright for Jarid and Jared. Or is that Jared and Jarid?
