Wed, Feb 10 2010
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Published October 23, 2009 01:12 am - Dustin Dixon is a runner who doesn’t know how to take “no” for an answer. Told he may never run again after a serious injury, Dixon has set out to prove everyone wrong. What he doesn’t know is if reaching that goal will be enough to help Missouri Southern win another men’s MIAA cross country championship this weekend. MSSU's Dixon back on course for MIAA meet By Jim Fryar
jfryar@joplinglobe.com Dustin Dixon is a runner who doesn’t know how to take “no” for an answer. Told he may never run again after a serious injury, Dixon has set out to prove everyone wrong. What he doesn’t know is if reaching that goal will be enough to help Missouri Southern win another men’s MIAA cross country championship this weekend. Time spent recovering from a severely broken leg, and the side effects of that injury, have taken Dixon on a circuitous journey since he was the MIAA champion in 2007. He’s stronger mentally and perhaps as strong physically. But the senior from St. Clair, Mo., says he is having to relearn how to get past just running and resume racing at an elite level. “I’m better than I was two years ago,” Dixon said after a Wednesday workout. “The difference is, the conference is a lot better. If I run the same race that I did two years ago, I’d probably be eighth or ninth now. Everyone has continued to get a lot better the past two years while I’ve basically been doing nothing.” What Dixon has actually been doing is recovering from an injury so severe that he had been told he might never run again. “Dustin is the kind of guy that, when you tell him ‘No,’ he’s going to prove you wrong,” said Tom Rutledge, Southern men’s track and cross country coach. “The doctors didn’t tell me that (never running again),” Dixon said. “They did tell me that if I didn’t have surgery, I would never run again because the leg was so severely damaged. They said there would be a lot of physical therapy. “There were athletes on runners’ forums who said I would never run again. I had to deal with that kind of criticism and with my own thoughts and doubts.” That was especially tough to take for someone who had such a successful college resume. During Dixon’s first three seasons of cross country, Missouri Southern won three conference titles. He was seventh in the MIAA Championships as a freshman and third as a sophomore before winning the meet as a junior. The Lions went on to earn their first South Central Regional title during Dixon’s junior year. He was looking forward to the national meet, which the Lions hosted that fall. That day turned into a disaster. 
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