Coupeville Sports

Marissa (Slater) Dixon, ready for snow patrol.

Dixon passed on the athletic gene to son Jacob and daughter Alicia.

   One photo, tons ‘o speed. Dixon (top) with sister Natalie (middle, left), Misty Sellgren, Mina Khongsavanh (bottom, left) and Christina Palmquist.

Size doesn’t matter.

Marissa (Slater) Dixon might have been low to the ground, but that never stopped her from being one of the more accomplished athletes to come through Coupeville High School.

A true mighty mite, the proud Class of ’94 grad ran the anchor leg for a relay team that smashed the school record in the 4 x 400, went to state in the hurdles, was a strong basketball and soccer player and got college scholarships offers in two separate sports.

Big or small, the body doesn’t matter as much as the heart beating inside the chest of the athlete.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too short for a sport! You prove them wrong,” Dixon said. “It’s not about your size, it’s about how bad you want it, the hard work and time you put into something and your heart.”

That will to win was never more evident than when she and her teammates put their names on the big board with the fastest time any Wolf girls’ relay team had posted up until then.

“I was the anchor and had to run my little heart out cause I can hear the crowd say go, go break that record,” Dixon said.

While she played soccer for ten years, accepting a scholarship to play at Skagit Valley College (she turned down a partial track scholarship to Vanderbilt to stay close to home), track was her passion.

“Track was by far my favorite,” Dixon said. “I love playing and being outside. Loved that it was both an individual and team sport.

“I remember listening to my Walkman sitting next to my boyfriend at the time and trying to think about my next race,” she added. “I loved the adrenaline.”

While running (and hanging out waiting for the next race) she made many life-long friends.

“The teammate that I remember the most is Ryan McManigle (high school sweetheart till my senior year),” Dixon said. “He always pushed me to run my races well. He was my biggest cheer leader.

“Also my close friend Susan Steele. She was also just as fast and Asian like me and we always would say use the ‘Asian Power’,” she added with a laugh. “I would also say Chelsea Grovdahl, Class of ’93 from OHHS. Without her speedy teaching of how to jump hurdles I would never of done so well and ran hurdles for the rest of my high school years.”

After playing soccer and running track at Oak Harbor as a freshman, Dixon transferred to Coupeville. The Wolves didn’t have a soccer program at the time, but Dixon picked up a basketball for two years, where she was a shooting guard “and shot lots of three-pointers.”

Whether the memories revolve around sports, academics or friends, Dixon remembers her time in Cow Town with great joy.

“My fondest memories of CHS were just plainly my entire graduating class of ’94. We were fun!,” Dixon said. “I loved high school; it was a lot of fun. So, too many things to mention.”

After graduating, Dixon went on to work as an airplane mechanic in Everett for a decade (“I loved it, but it gets pretty hard on the body”), and now lives in Illinois with her family.

“I love my life and my family,” she said. “I am married to an amazing man.”

The couple has two children, Alicia, 14, and Jacob, 12, who have both followed in their mom’s athletic footsteps.

“Alicia plays volleyball and she is little like me, but she doesn’t care, she plays hard and loves the sport,” Dixon said. “She also loves to ski, which she is amazing at.

“Jacob plays tackle football, basketball, volleyball and skis. He can play and excel at any sport.”

Now a stay at home mom, Dixon volunteers as a ski patroller and coaches volleyball.

Working as an assistant at Holy Family Catholic, she helped guide her team to an undefeated record this season, hot on the heels of a conference championship the year before.

Looking back on her high school years, Dixon can see where her teenage athletic success paid off later in life, teaching her discipline and a refusal to give in.

But she is also quick to stress that her accomplishments in the classroom meant just as much, if not more.

“Always help others and cheer on those who need cheering. Work hard, have fun and always be a good teammate,” Dixon said. “Always remember education. It is the most important thing first.

“Your education you receive will last a lifetime.”

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