Noah Malone Is On The Verge Of Breaking New Ground


* Noah Malone was part of the Indiana Storm's 4x100 fourth-place team at the AAU Junior Olympics in 2018

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For three years, Noah Malone, a legally blind athlete, has done all the right things as a sprinter for Hamilton Southeastern (IN) High School. 

He's worked hard across multiple seasons, dedicated himself to training, won races, and seen consistent improvements across 100 and 200 meters. 

The rewards were simple at first: His times were getting fast. Really fast. 

But as more successes came, like an Indiana State Track and Field Championship in the 200m in 2019 and invitations to represent Team USA on the international stage, Malone started to see his future play out in real time. 

Now Malone, who has 20/600 vision, is on a path toward doing something else remarkable. He could join a very rare list of visually impaired track and field athletes -- and could become one of the first sprinters in the T12 classification -- to earn a scholarship to a Division I university. 

"I don't know if that's been done or not," Malone said, honestly. "All the visually impaired athletes on the Para Olympic Teams that I know went Division II or skipped college athletics. So that's a really good point. I don't know any legally blind person who went Division I and I know a lot of legally blind people."

"It's exciting and it's also a nervous process," Malone said by phone recently. "You have something to work for. But then again, it's a nervous thing. You have all these deadlines, all this competition between schools. But it's exciting and it's really, really great and I'm thankful to be recruited." 

Malone holds wind-legal PRs of 10.59 in the 100m and 21.31 in the 200m. He said in 2019 he may even go up in distance to the 400m, too. 

Olympic medalist Marla Runyan, who competed in the T13 classification, ran the multis San Diego State University. Tim Willis, according to the United States Association of Blind Athletes, became the first blind cross country runner in NCAA Division I athletics in 1990. Chaz Davis joined the University of Hartford's cross country team before being diagnosed with Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy -- the same condition Malone has. 

The Indiana native wasn't sure if he'd be the first sprinter to gain a scholarship, but he said it might be possible. 

"I don't know if that's been done or not," Malone said, honestly. "All the visually impaired athletes on the Para Olympic Teams that I know went Division II or skipped college athletics. So that's a really good point. I don't know any legally blind person who went Division I and I know a lot of legally blind people."

Malone's final four schools all remain in the hunt for his services at the next level: Michigan State University, Indiana University, Indiana State University and Marian University. The University of Michigan is making a late charge, too. 

He said will take official visits to all four schools -- though no word on the Wolverines yet. In visiting Michigan State recently, he said, he learned that if he lowers his overall times in the 100m and 200m, he could increase the level of scholarship that he could receive. 

The first two compete in The Big Ten Conference -- among the power five conferences in athletics -- while Division I Indiana State competes in the Missouri Valley Conference and Marian operates within the NAIA in the Crossroads Conference. 

Malone, who says he is looking to study journalism or communications in college, believes each school can offer great opportunities for him. 

It's all been a whirlwind recruiting process for Malone, who recently came home to Fishers, Indiana, following successful competitions at the Para Junior World Championships (Nottwil, Switzerland) and the Para Pan American Games (Lima, Peru) in August. 

He will compete at the Para World Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Nov. 7-15. 

He won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Switzerland and added a silver in the 400m. He earned silver in the 100m and got gold in the 4x100m relay in Peru. 

"They were just good," Malone said. "I learned a lot from both of them. Overall, I'm excited to take what I learned overseas and bring that back to my high school experience. That will make me a better athlete overall. Competing locally when I've had experience competing across the world. It makes me a more mature athlete."


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