Ethan Vaughan had a scare early this season with his ankle. But other than one mystery ailment following a meet, everything has been on the right path for the Fox Chapel season.
Vaughan suffered a stress fracture last season that prevented him from competing at WPIALs or earning a spot at states. But Vaughan, who helped Fox Chapel win its sixth straight section team title Oct. 2, is back to running at his pace and would like to impress during his last opportunity in his high school career.
"So far, it’s been pretty good this year,” Vaughan said. "There hasn’t been anything like last year with my stress fracture. I had only had one random incident where I couldn’t put weight on my ankle after a meet. It was out of the blue, and I was back the next week.”
Vaughan finished in seventh place at the Foundation Meet on Sept. 21 in Hershey. That race is held on the same course where the PIAA has the state championships. He finished with a time of 16 minutes, 12 seconds.
Fox Chapel coach Tom Moul wanted Vaughan to try to set the pace with the other top competitors. Lower Merion’s Nicolas Mazzeo won the race in 15:59.
"He’s come into his own in terms of being able to race with the top dogs,” Moul said. "(Vaughan) was able to come out fast and hang with the top dogs. He’s struggled in the past staying with the top group. I think he took a big step forward.”
Fox Chapel’s second-best finisher was David Black, who finished 13th at 16:12. On the girls side, Cecilia Ressler also brought home a medal by finishing in 20:01 to grab 11th place.
Vaughan said that he knew he had to get out quickly to get with the top group. The course at the Foundation Meet has a wide starting line but funnels down quickly after the 200-meter mark.
"Because of the starting box placement, I was able to scoot past the mob that goes out,” Vaughan said. "I was able to easily get out. Before it funneled out, I was in the top 10. A few people dropped off, but I was able to keep the pace and didn’t have to fight for position.”
Vaughan also led a dominant boys performance at the Section IV meet. Fox Chapel had five runners finish in first through fifth. Vaughan won with a time of 16:27, followed by Black (17:04.1), Michael Costello (17:14.5), Nicky Clump (17:21.1) and Doug Lisotto (17:33.1).
"It was definitely a nice continuation of the tradition,” Vaughan said.
Moul believes Vaughan will be in a good position to compete for a spot at states when the postseason rolls around.
"Just experience with injuries shows you come back timid at first,” Moul said. "The more time that goes by without a recurrence allows you to put it in the rearview mirror.”
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