Athlete 1975 - 1979
When it comes to fast learners, Steven Hayes ’79 has to be considered one of the best. Placing fourth at the NAIA Track & Field Championships just a year after heaving the 16-pound hammer for the first time, Hayes ended his Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame career as an all-American, three-time league and district champion and record holder at Linfield, Northwest Conference and NAIA District 2 levels.
A standout three-sport athlete from Anchorage, Alaska, Hayes was heavily recruited to play basketball by multiple Division I programs, but made the decision to attend Linfield in part to be close to an ailing grandmother. He played two seasons of junior varsity hoops under the legendary Ted Wilson, but found his calling in track, albeit in an unexpected event.
A state runner-up in the hurdles as a high school athlete, the freshman Hayes faced stiff competition for a spot in his signature event. In a seemingly flippant comment, then-coach John Knight told Hayes if he could throw the hammer 100 feet, he’d earn a spot in an upcoming dual meet at Pacific Lutheran. Hayes took on the challenge, heaving the ball and chain 102 feet. From then on, it was a meteoric rise from novice to national championship contender.
Consistently improving as the year wore on, Hayes placed fourth in the Northwest Conference Championships. He set the program record at 136-9, was runner-up at the NAIA District 2 Championships and qualified for nationals, though he was unable to attend due to budget constraints.
Hayes went undefeated at the conference and district levels in each of his next three seasons, capturing three consecutive Northwest Conference and NAIA District 2 championships while re-setting the meet records at all six championship meets. As a senior in 1979, Hayes was accorded NAIA District 2 Student-Athlete of the Year honors.
Hayes got his chance to compete at the NAIA Championships in Arkadelphia, Ark., as a sophomore in 1977, placing fourth. It was the first of three consecutive top-five efforts at the national meet.
Entering the 1978 NAIA Track & Field Championships with the top mark of any competitor that year, and having experienced a six- or seven-week stretch with throws consistently in the 170-plus range, Hayes finished a disappointing fifth as a junior. He redeemed himself in his final collegiate competition, earning NAIA All-America honors with a third-place finish at the 1979 national meet.
Hayes’ all-time best mark of 175 feet, 11 inches (53.61 meters) ranks No. 4 on the current Linfield Top 10 list, about 2 ½ feet – less than the length of the hammer itself – from the program record. Even by today’s standards, his throws would still put in him contention for NWC championships and would likely earn him qualification for the NCAA Division III Championships.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Hayes career is that he was not only a natural hammer thrower, but he essentially learned the event from scratch due to its lack of popularity on the West Coast. The Northwest Conference only instituted it as a championship event in 1976, Hayes’ freshman season, and he did not have an event-specific coach to train him.
In addition to achieving his own individual success, Hayes also helped mentor future conference champions and all-Americans, including Doug Dean, the latter the current Linfield record holder in that event.
Hayes, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1979, has kept plenty busy in his post-Linfield years. He qualified for the 1980 Olympic Trials in the hammer, earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Vermont and obtained an Executive MBA in Marketing from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
His highly successful business career includes leadership at several Fortune 50 companies, service on the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association Board of Directors (CEDIA) and founder/president of Custom Electronics, Inc. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Strategic Talent Management for Goodwill Industries of Northern New England.
He and his wife, Dr. Susan Gallant, reside in Falmouth, Maine, and are legal guardians to Steve’s nephew, Patrick, a recent graduate of the University of Southern Maine.
