SE: From Rugby Star to Standout Thrower for K-State T&F, All-American Mitch Dixon Looks to End Improbable Journey with Best Season Yet
Jan 04, 2018 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Before Mitch Dixon was an Honorable Mention All-American hammer thrower at K-State, he was a high school All-American rugby player in California who was set to play for Arizona State's club team, which has produced numerous national team players and professionals.
Dixon's journey from one sport to the other was unlikely. So unlikely that if someone had told him what his future held five years ago, his reaction would have been complete disbelief.
"If you told me five years ago I'd be a hammer thrower at K-State, I would've laughed at your face, because when I was in high school I was all football, rugby, football, rugby," said Dixon, a native of Rancho San Margarita, California. "There's no way you can plan five years out."
Five years ago, Dixon's plan was to continue a promising career in rugby, a sport he started as a junior at Trabuco Hills High School. As a senior, he was a high school All-American who was selected to play for the United States U-20 national team.
"I loved the sport," Dixon said of men's rugby, which is not yet recognized by the NCAA and therefore not a scholarship sport. "I picked it up right away."
His plan nearly played out, too.
Dixon was enrolled in classes at Arizona State. He had his roommate set up and was even signed up for a business retreat through the university.
"I was only a couple months out of going," Dixon, studying business administration at K-State, said. "If I'm being honest, I prayed about it and it felt like God told me that wasn't the place he wanted me to go."
So, Dixon changed course. He picked up the phone to let Arizona State's coach know he would not be coming. The same day, he called up Shaun McGinley, the throws coach at Saddleback College in California, and asked for a shot to compete there. To Dixon's surprise, it worked.
"I said, 'I want to throw for you,' and he was, like, 'Perfect. Grab your throwing shoes, come on out and we'll meet you out here,'" Dixon recalled. "I wanted to be a shot put and a discus thrower but that's not what he wanted me to do. He was a hammer coach first. I picked the hammer up that first day and was awful, just like everybody is when they first start."
Dixon figured out the hammer for outdoor season and weight throw for indoor rather quickly, however. After two seasons at Saddleback, he was a four-time All-American. He also earned the 2015 Conference MVP and Field Athlete of the Year honors, garnering recruiting interest from schools such as USC, Oklahoma and UTSA.
Then one day, Greg Watson, K-State's renowned throws coach, was out recruiting Tyler Merkley, a high school athlete at the time who was training with McGinley. Dixon happened to be practicing at the same time.
"Apparently after (Watson) got done watching, he was, like, 'I want Mitch, too.' This was very late (in the recruiting process)," said Dixon, who came out for an official visit in February and watched K-State's 2014-15 men's basketball team beat Kansas at home. "That definitely helped seal the deal because I'm not a big fan of basketball but that was the most fun I've ever had at a sporting event. It was amazing. It kind of just felt right when I got here."
The feeling that helped bring Dixon to K-State has only grown since he got here. While in Manhattan, he said he's made countless friends and enjoyed many memorable experiences. Most notably, Dixon pointed out his trip to Nicaragua this August through Cats Across Continents, where student-athletes from various K-State teams travel to different countries to build a court for a community in need.
"I underestimated the level of work we had to put in, but our athletic trainer who went with us, Blaine (Burris), he told us, and he was absolutely right, that two weeks after we get back, we're not going to remember the pain of having to carry cement bags or hand mix cement because our cement mixer broke, we're just going to remember the good times," Dixon said. "The relationships that I built and the work ethic that I could see from people from other sports has definitely helped me in my sport, knowing that everyone around me is working just as hard."
Dixon's work ethic has produced even more impressive accomplishments at K-State. He's medaled at the Big 12 meet every season, placing fifth, third and fourth so far. Last outdoor season, he qualified to and placed 20th at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
In K-State's only meet so far this indoor season, Dixon set a new personal best (20.52m/67-04) that is tied for the sixth-best mark in the country. It's a solid start to Dixon's final indoor campaign, but he knows he has more in him. He also knows he will need more to make his first trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, which takes the top 16 marks nationally.
"Happy but never satisfied," Dixon said of the mark, which he'll try to improve on at K-State's Wildcat Invitational on Saturday in Ahearn Field House. "The mindset going into this season is I want to be able to look myself in the mirror at the end of the day and say I gave it everything that I had. Every throw, every lift, every thing I'm doing, I'm just trying to do with as much effort as I can. So, at the end of the season, I know I did everything I could."
If that ends with him as one of the 16 weight throwers competing at the NCAA Championships in March at College Station, Texas, it would be a fitting ending to an improbable career.
"It'd be the culmination of five years of hard work. It would mean that kids can go to junior college, they can start from never touching a hammer and they can make it to the national meets if they get the right coach, they care enough and they're dedicated enough into the sport," Dixon said. "It would help me prove to myself that as long as I set my mind to it, I can do it. I hope it would help someone else with that same mentality."
Either way, Dixon can look back and smile at the unpredictable path life has taken him down. From a rugby star to one of the best throwers in K-State history, he said it's been a rewarding ride.
"I had no idea that this is where I was going to be, this is who I was going to end up becoming, but I'm really happy I did," he said. "K-State has taught me a lot about becoming an adult and what it's going to take in the real world."
Before Mitch Dixon was an Honorable Mention All-American hammer thrower at K-State, he was a high school All-American rugby player in California who was set to play for Arizona State's club team, which has produced numerous national team players and professionals.
Dixon's journey from one sport to the other was unlikely. So unlikely that if someone had told him what his future held five years ago, his reaction would have been complete disbelief.
"If you told me five years ago I'd be a hammer thrower at K-State, I would've laughed at your face, because when I was in high school I was all football, rugby, football, rugby," said Dixon, a native of Rancho San Margarita, California. "There's no way you can plan five years out."
Five years ago, Dixon's plan was to continue a promising career in rugby, a sport he started as a junior at Trabuco Hills High School. As a senior, he was a high school All-American who was selected to play for the United States U-20 national team.
"I loved the sport," Dixon said of men's rugby, which is not yet recognized by the NCAA and therefore not a scholarship sport. "I picked it up right away."
His plan nearly played out, too.
Dixon was enrolled in classes at Arizona State. He had his roommate set up and was even signed up for a business retreat through the university.
"I was only a couple months out of going," Dixon, studying business administration at K-State, said. "If I'm being honest, I prayed about it and it felt like God told me that wasn't the place he wanted me to go."
So, Dixon changed course. He picked up the phone to let Arizona State's coach know he would not be coming. The same day, he called up Shaun McGinley, the throws coach at Saddleback College in California, and asked for a shot to compete there. To Dixon's surprise, it worked.
"I said, 'I want to throw for you,' and he was, like, 'Perfect. Grab your throwing shoes, come on out and we'll meet you out here,'" Dixon recalled. "I wanted to be a shot put and a discus thrower but that's not what he wanted me to do. He was a hammer coach first. I picked the hammer up that first day and was awful, just like everybody is when they first start."
Dixon figured out the hammer for outdoor season and weight throw for indoor rather quickly, however. After two seasons at Saddleback, he was a four-time All-American. He also earned the 2015 Conference MVP and Field Athlete of the Year honors, garnering recruiting interest from schools such as USC, Oklahoma and UTSA.
Then one day, Greg Watson, K-State's renowned throws coach, was out recruiting Tyler Merkley, a high school athlete at the time who was training with McGinley. Dixon happened to be practicing at the same time.
"Apparently after (Watson) got done watching, he was, like, 'I want Mitch, too.' This was very late (in the recruiting process)," said Dixon, who came out for an official visit in February and watched K-State's 2014-15 men's basketball team beat Kansas at home. "That definitely helped seal the deal because I'm not a big fan of basketball but that was the most fun I've ever had at a sporting event. It was amazing. It kind of just felt right when I got here."
The feeling that helped bring Dixon to K-State has only grown since he got here. While in Manhattan, he said he's made countless friends and enjoyed many memorable experiences. Most notably, Dixon pointed out his trip to Nicaragua this August through Cats Across Continents, where student-athletes from various K-State teams travel to different countries to build a court for a community in need.
"I underestimated the level of work we had to put in, but our athletic trainer who went with us, Blaine (Burris), he told us, and he was absolutely right, that two weeks after we get back, we're not going to remember the pain of having to carry cement bags or hand mix cement because our cement mixer broke, we're just going to remember the good times," Dixon said. "The relationships that I built and the work ethic that I could see from people from other sports has definitely helped me in my sport, knowing that everyone around me is working just as hard."
Dixon's work ethic has produced even more impressive accomplishments at K-State. He's medaled at the Big 12 meet every season, placing fifth, third and fourth so far. Last outdoor season, he qualified to and placed 20th at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
In K-State's only meet so far this indoor season, Dixon set a new personal best (20.52m/67-04) that is tied for the sixth-best mark in the country. It's a solid start to Dixon's final indoor campaign, but he knows he has more in him. He also knows he will need more to make his first trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, which takes the top 16 marks nationally.
"Happy but never satisfied," Dixon said of the mark, which he'll try to improve on at K-State's Wildcat Invitational on Saturday in Ahearn Field House. "The mindset going into this season is I want to be able to look myself in the mirror at the end of the day and say I gave it everything that I had. Every throw, every lift, every thing I'm doing, I'm just trying to do with as much effort as I can. So, at the end of the season, I know I did everything I could."
If that ends with him as one of the 16 weight throwers competing at the NCAA Championships in March at College Station, Texas, it would be a fitting ending to an improbable career.
"It'd be the culmination of five years of hard work. It would mean that kids can go to junior college, they can start from never touching a hammer and they can make it to the national meets if they get the right coach, they care enough and they're dedicated enough into the sport," Dixon said. "It would help me prove to myself that as long as I set my mind to it, I can do it. I hope it would help someone else with that same mentality."
Either way, Dixon can look back and smile at the unpredictable path life has taken him down. From a rugby star to one of the best throwers in K-State history, he said it's been a rewarding ride.
"I had no idea that this is where I was going to be, this is who I was going to end up becoming, but I'm really happy I did," he said. "K-State has taught me a lot about becoming an adult and what it's going to take in the real world."
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