TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Last year Sara Vaughn held her eight-week-old baby and watched from the sidelines as husband Brent ran to an All-American 12th-place finish at the NCAA cross country championships. On Monday, the Colorado Buffalo junior made All-American finishes a family affair.

Just 14 months after giving birth, Sara Vaughn raced to a 31st-place finish at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course, which was good enough to put her among the top 30 Americans in the race. Brent, meanwhile, took fifth place in the men's race and grabbed his third All-American honor.

"I just never really expected to be an All-American in cross country," Sara Vaughn said while holding grinning daughter Ciara. "I'm more of a miler. The track is my domain. This 6K cross country race is really intimidating so I'm just really excited."

Seeking some last-minute advice on Sunday evening for her first crack at the NCAAs, Sara went to Brent, whom she calls her "third or fourth coach." She raced conservatively early, sitting around 60th at the midway point, before mowing down competitors in the second half of the race — not coincidentally much like Brent did in going from 11th to fifth in the final 3K of the men's race.

"Her being an All-American is pretty incredible," Brent, a senior, said. "It says a lot about her as a person and an athlete and a mother as well. I knew that she had a lot of talent and (coach Mark Wetmore) did a great job training her. I knew she was going to come along.

"We both got All-American today. That's a good day for our us, I'd say."

Full of youth

Erin Marston (134th place) was the only senior to run for the Buffalo women on Monday.

With a lineup loaded with young runners, coach Mark Wetmore put the blame on himself for the women's squad not performing better as a whole this season. The women placed 23rd Monday after three straight years of finishing in the top two.

"We had some injuries, which are most likely to be my fault," Wetmore said. "We knew that we were going to be relying on some new people, and I may have pushed them too hard, trying to bring them around to NCAA-caliber running."

Taking a pass

Former Fairview High standout Sarah Cocco, a USC freshman who had qualified for Monday's meet, opted against making the trip to Terre Haute. Cocco went to USC with more of a focus on shorter track races, and runs cross country mainly to prepare for track.

"We were pleasantly surprised with my success but decided not to bite off more than we could chew," Cocco said by telephone. "I wanted to rest up and get ready for track."