Sprinter rises above speed of sound

MaKenzie Hageman was told she could do anything she wanted to do, and she is doing just that — at top speed.

Hageman was born deaf, but her mother, Roxy Hageman, told her at a young age to not let that stop her from living her life.

“She has always been told she can do anything that she wants to do,” Roxy Hageman said. “The only thing the kid can’t do is hear.”

MaKenzie Hageman has not let that stop her on the track, either. She became interested with running at an early age and later excelled in track at Waverly-South Shore High School. The Northern State sophomore is now one of the best sprinters in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

“My brother (Cody) was involved with track and field, so I followed him and his example, and I knew that I could do anything that I wanted to do,” MaKenzie Hageman signed through her interpreter, Elyssa Behan. “If I wanted to do something, I could do it.”

Early discovery

Roxy realized MaKenzie had a hearing problem at a young age. She would walk into her daughter’s room when MaKenzie was crying and would shout “Mommy is here.” MaKenzie never turned her head to look at her mother. MaKenzie took tests when she was 1 to determine if she was deaf.

“When that nurse walked up behind her and she rang that bell and she didn’t turn around, I almost felt relief that someone was seeing what I was seeing,” Roxy recalled. “Because once the problem is diagnosed, then you can start dealing with it.”

The Hageman family learned signed language. Roxy got involved with Birth to Three, a program that provides early intervention services for children from birth to age 3, who have a disability or a developmental delay. The Hagemans became friends with other families  with deaf children.

“Within probably the first couple of weeks that we found out she was deaf, I actually had a mom call me from Langford who had a deaf daughter and her and another mom came down with their deaf kids,” Roxy recalled. “They were like little 5- and 6-year-olds, and they were on the computer doing everything that a normal kid does. It was just like ‘Wow, MaKenzie is going to grow up just to be like everybody else.’”

Unexpected caliber

MaKenzie, 20, was always involved in sports growing up. She played basketball in high school and signed through Behan that she misses playing the sport. When asked what position she played in basketball, she mouthed “point guard” and also tucked her fist by her arm pit and flapped it to indicate she played on the wing.

Track and field is where she soars. She was a multiple state place-winner in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in high school. She competed in the Deaf Olympics last summer in Bulgaria and received a silver medal in the 400-meter relay. She also competed in the Deaf World Championships in Canada in 2012.

“I love it,” Hageman signed through Behan about track and field. “It makes me work hard to make sure that I reach my goals, and so it is really motivating.”

Hageman then smiled and signed through Behan, “I don’t know if you know it yet, but I did get the NSIC athlete of the week.”

She was named the NSIC women’s track athlete of the week two weeks ago for her efforts at the Nebraska-Kearney Invitational. The human services major is the only NSU track and field athlete to earn the honor this season.

“Those aren’t easy to get, with how many teams we’ve got (in the NSIC),” NSU coach Kevin Bjerke said. “It is exciting to have someone that is unexpected of that caliber on our team. It is just a big bonus for us.”

Hageman began her college career at Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell. She transferred to NSU after last season because DWU wasn’t the right fit for her. Her brother is a former NSU track and field athlete and current assistant coach for the Wolves.

“I love it here,” signed Hageman, who can read lips. “The coach is wonderful. They know how to communicate with me, and so we have a good rapport.”

Building rapport

Bjerke and sprints coach Lynne Nacke said, at first, it was tough communicating with Hageman, but it has gotten better. It also helps that Behan is with Hageman during school, practice and at meets.

Roxy lives in Watertown and, if she needs to get a hold of her daughter, she will either text or Facebook message her. Prior to that, they had to use a phone with a teletypewriter.

“Texting was the greatest thing they ever invented,” Roxy said. 

This past weekend at the Sioux City Relays in Sioux City, Iowa, Hageman tied the school record in the 100-meter dash. The record was set by Nacke, when she sprinted for the Wolves.

“She is running great,” Nacke said. “I expect her to do really, really good things because we are really early in the outdoor season.”

When Hageman gets into the starting blocks, somebody taps her on the foot to let her know when to get in the set position. She can slightly hear the gun when it goes off at the start of the race. She also runs in relays, which can be a challenge because of the exchanging of the baton.

“I can’t hear when they say stick for a relay race and so I have to try to guess and trust the other person is going to make it on my hands,” she signed. “So that is a challenge to do that guess work.”

Molly Wynn is in relays with her and hands the baton off to Hageman. Wynn said the exchange is not much different than running with any other person in a relay.

“It is different, but it is kind of cool how it works,” Wynn said. “She does her thing, and I just have to catch her. When I hit the mark, she runs and she just takes her steps and she throws her hand back.”

Wynn said she and some of the other athletes on the team have talked about taking a sign language class to communicate better with Hageman, who brings good energy to the team, Wynn said.

“She is fun to be around,” Wynn said. “It is fun to watch her run and get excited with her. She is positive.”

Roxy also talked about her daughter’s positive attitude and how social she is. She even talked about how MaKenzie will fly places by herself.

“She has no fear of nothing,” Roxy said.

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The MaKenzie Hageman File

Family: Parents, Brian and Roxy; sister, Jessi, 28; brother, Cody, 27

Age: 20

High school: Hageman graduated from Waverly-South Shore in 2012. She participated in track and field, cross country and basketball for the Coyotes. She was a multiple state place-winner in track and field.

College: Hageman transferred to Northern State this past fall after attending Dakota Wesleyan as a freshman. She is majoring in human services and is one of the top sprinters in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Up next: Northern State will host a track and field meet Friday at Swisher Field.