Benny Vaughn was one of only five African American student-athletes at the University of Florida in 1969.
He was a full scholarship athlete with the Gators track and field team with Head Coach, Jimmy Carnes.
He attended Baker High School in Columbus, Georgia where he was bussed to the all white high school in compliance with federal desegregation orders after the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Mr. Vaughn was the first black athlete to participate on the Baker High School track team and football team in 1965.
In November of 1968, Benny won the Georgia high school state cross-country meet in Atlanta where he led his team to the state XC title.
He was the first black distance runner to win the Georgia high school XC Championship. In that same year, he ran and won the high school division of a half-marathon in Atlanta with a time of 1:18.
In his senior year at the 1969 Georgia state high school track and field championship, he led his team to a 2-point margin victory over favored Atlanta Washington High to win the Georgia high school team title.
Benny won the mile run, the 880, the 440 and anchored his team’s mile relay. Benny was voted by the Georgia high school coaches as the Most Valuable Athlete of the State Track and Field Championship in 1969.
Benny was a blue chip athlete and was recruited by every SEC school as the deep south began to integrate educational institutions and its sports teams.
In his professional career, Benny Vaughn is considered to be one of the most influential massage therapists in sports in the United States. He has been an invited lecturer about sports and massage internationally in Russia, Spain, Japan, Ireland and Australia.
Benny has been a member of the USA Olympic sports medicine staff for FIVE Olympic Games!
Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2021, Tokyo 2020
Benny Vaughn is a licensed massage therapist, speaker, teacher, and writer. As a Certified Life Mastery Consultant, he offers professional development to athletes as an advisor and advocate. Benny is available for coaching to professional and Olympic athletes and any persons seeking personal transformation.
