{"id":35114,"date":"2017-02-10T16:53:07","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T22:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=35114"},"modified":"2017-02-10T16:53:07","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T22:53:07","slug":"austin-area-athletes-making-a-splash-at-deaf-college-gallaudet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2017\/02\/10\/austin-area-athletes-making-a-splash-at-deaf-college-gallaudet\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin-area athletes making a splash at deaf college Gallaudet"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Austin-area athletes making a splash at deaf college Gallaudet<\/strong><\/p>\n

By David Driver – American-Statesman Correspondent<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Dalton Taylor played football and basketball at the Texas School for the Deaf, and he considered joining the slew of state products who go on to play football at the college level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a football state,\u201d Taylor noted.<\/p>\n

But that started to change after he met Kevin Kovacs, now in his second season as the head men\u2019s basketball coach at Division III Gallaudet University, founded in Washington D.C. in 1864 as the only school for the deaf in the country.<\/p>\n

Kovacs saw Taylor play hoops in high school, and now the 6-3 power forward is a freshman reserve for the Bison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been tough compared to high school; college is a lot more physical,\u201d Taylor said through an interpreter. \u201cI have to play a lot smarter. It is definitely tougher. There are a lot more obstacles and how I approach those obstacles is different than at the high school level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor, who is deaf, was born in Chicago and also lived in Rochester, N.Y. before he moved to Texas in 2009. Now he\u2019s in the nation\u2019s capital, where he has enjoyed seeing the White House and museums.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came for the education. It is the only deaf university in the world,\u201d Taylor said of Gallaudet. \u201cI grew with (Gallaudet). It was always in our curriculum (at Texas School for the Deaf). Basketball was a plus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallaudet is 14-3 overall and 6-0 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference. Taylor, one of seven freshmen on the roster, has played in 11 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strength for the team is really our chemistry. We have an unbreakable bond,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe have a great team this year and our goal is win the conference and get into the national tournament for the first time in history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor, who\u2019s majoring in communications studies and minoring in deaf studies, is one of four athletes from the Austin area now at Gallaudet. McNeil\u2019s Julian Simons is a junior on the men\u2019s swimming team, and teammate Niko Lutes-Stein is a freshman who grew up in Austin before moving to Washington D.C. to attend a deaf high school there. And another McNeil graduate, Jana Kiefer, is a junior on the women\u2019s swimming team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to learn on how to have the best of both worlds \u2014 being a regular full-time student and being an athlete at the same time,\u201d wrote Kiefer, who placed third in the butterfly and in the 200 IM in a double meet in New York in December. \u201cThe highlight so far for me is feeling like I have found my family, and my teammates being there for one and another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simons played football as a freshman. This is his first season on the swimming team. He came to Gallaudet with a football body, but dropped nearly 60 pounds within the last year, said veteran Bison swimming coach Larry Curran.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a lot of that on his own before he started swimming,\u201d Curran said. \u201cHe wants to learn; he has a good attitude. His times have dropped tremendously since he started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lutes-Stein, who tried out for the school\u2019s soccer team, provides depth in relay events and also is a freestyle swimmer. Taylor knew him at TSD before Lutes-Stein moved to Washington.<\/p>\n

In basketball, Taylor comes off the bench and is averaging a modest 3.6 minutes a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cDalton is a great student-athlete. He has ambitions to do well as a student and an athlete and he works hard for it,\u201d Kovacs wrote in an e-mail. \u201cI\u2019ve watched him play in high school and always liked how hard he played on the court both ways and often appeared to be coachable, which is what we are always looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor, who played wide receiver, tight end and linebacker in high school, is glad he decided on basketball at Gallaudet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far it has been a great experience for me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been a transition, but it has been a great transition for me. I have to improve my skills. That way I can get some more playing time in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.mystatesman.com\/sports\/college\/austin-area-athletes-making-splash-deaf-college-gallaudet\/ObeqzJPcUJ61jkaM3fNiMM\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austin-area athletes making a splash at deaf college Gallaudet By David Driver – American-Statesman Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Dalton Taylor played football and basketball at the Texas School for the Deaf, and he considered joining the slew of state products…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,21,20833,215,25493,831,493,25495,4104,25494,604,80],"class_list":["post-35114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-austin","tag-basektball","tag-college","tag-dalton-taylor","tag-football","tag-gallaudet","tag-kevin-kovacs","tag-niko-lutes-stein","tag-north-eastern-athletic-conference","tag-texas-school-for-the-deaf","tag-tsd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-98m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12807,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/01\/08\/deaf-students-to-get-additional-offerings\/","url_meta":{"origin":35114,"position":0},"title":"Deaf students to get additional offerings","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Higher Education Notes: News about Texas colleges COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS Published: Thursday, January 6, 2011 AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Deaf students to get additional offerings ACC has been named a regional center for Gallaudet University and, as such, will offer courses, workshops and technical assistance to people who are deaf\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12858,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/01\/12\/austin-community-college-hosting-university-for-the-deaf\/","url_meta":{"origin":35114,"position":1},"title":"Austin Community College hosting university for the deaf","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Austin Community College hosting university for the deaf Austin Business Journal Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Read more: Austin Community College hosting university for the deaf | Austin Business Journal The Austin Community College District was picked to serve as a regional center for Gallaudet University, a school that caters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21443,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/01\/16\/tsd-wins-gallaudet-university-battle-of-the-books-competition\/","url_meta":{"origin":35114,"position":2},"title":"TSD wins Gallaudet University Battle of the Books competition","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Texas School for the Deaf wins Gallaudet University Battle of the Books competition Washington, D.C. - 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The athletes will compete against each other in two sports: basketball and track. Admission\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16348,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/10\/20\/bug-reading-presentation-by-author-christopher-j-heuer-austin\/","url_meta":{"origin":35114,"position":5},"title":"“BUG” Reading & Presentation by author Christopher J. Heuer – Austin","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"October 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\"BUG\" Reading & Presentation by author Christopher J. Heuer DATE: October 27, 2011 TIME: 7 pm to 9 pm ADDRESS: 3401 Webberville Rd. - Room 8500 Austin, Texas WEBSITE: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/event.php?eid=227143404011655 Free & open to the public! ASL Interpreters provided! 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