Track team pays tribute
Women begin season with Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational
When Liberty’s women’s track and field team begins its season Dec. 3, the women will be competing with heavy hearts.
Family — The Lady Flames will honor fallen sprinter Darius Dixon when they begin their indoor season Dec. 3. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
The Lady Flames will host the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational in honor of freshman sprinter Darius Dixon, who was killed in a car accident shortly after running in his first race for Liberty last year.
Assistant Coach Andrew “Pete” McFadden, along with Head Track and Field Coach Brant Tolsma and Assistant Head Coach Lance Bingham, decided to name Liberty’s invitational meet after Dixon.
McFadden acknowledged the responsibility of the team to honor Dixon’s legacy.
“(Dixon’s) family sent him here, and this is the last place they sent (their) child,” McFadden said. “(This meet) should be something that is said and done annually to let them know how much we loved him and how much we appreciate them sending him here. It wasn’t just a death and it’s over. We wish he was here with us.”
The night prior to the invitational, McFadden said the team will host a banquet, during which a large photograph of Dixon will be hung in the Tolsma Indoor Track.
Dixon’s father, who is a pastor, will be invited to speak at the banquet remembering his son, according to McFadden.
Dixon’s former teammates, sophomore sprinter Stephen Hayes and senior sprinter Abigail Flower, were some of Dixon’s closest friends during his only semester at Liberty. Dixon’s legacy was clear even though he only attended the university for a few short months.
“Ever since I met him on the first day, we just hung out everyday,” Hayes said. “We would eat together. We went to basketball games together. He was really funny. For me, he always kept me out of trouble. We were just accountable for each other.”
Dixon’s absence affected not just a few of his teammates, but the track program as a whole.
“He was a really good encourager to everybody,” Flower said. “He had a really nice smile. Any time you saw him, he would just light up the room. Once he died, all of us went (downhill). Everybody was not performing as well as they used to be. It was hard because the whole team is like a big family. We lost one, so it
affected everybody.”
Hayes particularly felt the sting of the loss of one of his best friends.
“After I lost him, it was hard for a while,” Hayes said. “He kept on motivating me when I didn’t have a lot of confidence coming in. He would always think of others before he’d think of himself.”
Dixon’s generosity was noted by his teammates, and because of that, they seek to honor his memory by continuing to give back to the community this year as Dixon did. In the Lynchburg Thanks for Giving clothing drive at the beginning of the fall 2013 semester, Dixon donated 257 pieces of clothing.
“In the little things, we are just trying to step up and keep his memory alive,” Flower said.
Even though the pain resulting from Dixon’s tragic death is evident, McFadden has seen how God can use a horrible situation for good.
“(Dixon) had one race at Liberty University track,” McFadden said. “That was his last race. But we never know what’s going to happen. We want (the athletes) to compete in that mindset. It’s sad that something like that had to happen for us to remember (that) this is an honor and privilege (to run for God).”
Rodriguez is a sports reporter.