It’s a Wrap for 2014 Indoor Track & Field Season

Congratulations to all the athletes who excelled at their indoor performances and look forward to their outdoor performances this spring!

Craig Saalfeld, 2013 Summer Deaflympics decathlon gold medalist, upped his old indoor heptathlon American record. During the 2-day indoor heptathlon event on January 31/February 1 held at Seward, Nebraska, for the Concordia Classic, Craig finished 1st place with 5,238 points. His seven individual performances were: 60m: 7.25, LJ: 6.39m (20′ 11 ¾”), SP: 12.51m (41′ 0 ½”), HJ: 2.00m (6′ 6 ¾”), 60m H: 8.42, PV: 4.30m (14′ 1 ¼”), and 1000m: 2:51.73. Craig’s previous American indoor heptathlon record was 5,175 points which was held at Warrensburg, Missouri, for the MIAA Indoor Championships on February 27/28, 2009. His seven individual performances at that time was: 60m: 7.26, LJ: 6.78m (22′ 3″), SP: 11.14m (36′ 6 ¾”), HJ: 2.04m (6′ 8 ¼”), 60m H: 8.51, PV: 3.63m (11′ 10 ¾”), and 1000m: 2:41.90

MaKenzie Hageman, 2013 Summer Deaflympics 4x100m silver medalist, had transferred to Northern State University from Dakota Wesleyan University and is in her 2nd year of college. MaKenzie broke both American and Collegiate indoor records in the 60m and 200m dash. In the 60m, she ran with best time at 7.82 seconds on February 28 in Bemidji, Minnesota, for the NSIC Championships. The previous 60m was also owned by her last year with time of 7.90 held at Lincoln, Nebraska for the GPAC Championships on February 16. In the 200m, she ran her best time at 25.85 seconds during the Nebraska Tune-Up meet in Lincoln on February 21. The old indoor 200m was set by MaKenzie with the time of 26.16 also at the GPAC Championships.

Taylor Koss, 2013 Summer Deaflympics 4x100m gold medalist, is in his first year in college at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He broke the indoor American and Collegiate record in the 600m. His best time was clocked at 1:23.53 on January 17 in Milwaukee for the John Tierney Triangular meet. The previous record was held by Brandon Kenny of St. Lawrence University with time of 1:25.36 which was held on February 21, 2009 at Ithaca, New York, for the Marc Deneault memorial Invitational Meet. Taylor also performed other indoor events in the 60m and 400m dash. His best time in 60m was 7.31 seconds and 50.78 in the 400m.

Vianney Boum-Yamb continues to lower his 60m dash time and re-wrote Gallaudet University’s indoor 55m record. His best 60m time was 6.99 clocked at SU Open in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, hosted by Susquehanna University on February 22. Vianney also lowered his indoor 200m time at 23.63 seconds which was also held at Selinsgrove for the Crusader Classic on February 8.

Missouri School for the Deaf participated their annual indoor meet at Mule Relays in Warrensburg on March 25. Two athletes from that school had broken three indoor Prep Deaf School records. Senior Nick Jones clocked 53.49 seconds in the 400m. He also performed well in two other events, 6.84 seconds in the 55m and 19’ 2” in the long jump. The other new record holder is freshman Elizabeth Harrison who long jumped 14’ 11” and timed 1:10.39 in the 400m.

Gunner Hahn, a senior at Wisconsin School for the Deaf, had a banner day at Wisconsin Track & Field Association State Indoor Championships in Whitewater this past weekend. He received his personal indoor best in the 55m hurdles with time of 8.49 seconds during Semi-Finals round. Gunner improved 0.13 seconds from the 1st round in which his time was 8.62. With his personal best time, he almost broke the 9-year old Prep Deaf School record set by Terrell Sumers of Louisiana with a time of 8.41.

Since indoor meets are not that common among deaf athletes, USADTF has composed the Top 10 indoor best performances for three categories:
All-Time
Collegiate
Prep