History Lesson: Leroy Dixson's historic night still hasn't been matched

Forty years ago, Freeport speedster Leroy Dixson was looking to make history at the Big Nine conference track meet.

He made history, just not the kind he was hoping for. In the 1981 conference meet, Dixson swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and won the high jump as well to become the first — and still only — boys track athlete to win four individual titles at the conference meet.

Bruce Bartels of Harlem in 1976 and Deion McShane of Freeport in 2017 also won four events, but both won one of them in relays.

“The goal was to win the conference meet. We thought we could beat East,” said Dixson, who now is a track, football and basketball coach at Enderlin High School in North Dakota. “I knew I could get us 40 points. If they’d have let me enter five events, I would have entered five.”

Even with Dixson’s dominance, Freeport couldn’t keep up with East, which was the lead track program of the 1970s and 1980s. The E-Rabs had won every Big Nine track title since 1972, except for 1977 when Rockford Public Schools dropped sports for a year. The E-Rabs scored 78.5 points to Freeport’s 55.

“I hadn’t lost a race all year; the big thing that night was to win the high jump,” Dixson said. “I just kept putting it one peg higher than everyone else. When I won that, I thought we had a chance. I wanted to get all of us on the podium.”

After the Big Nine meet, Freeport’s Mr. Everything became a specialist. He dropped the high jump immediately and decided against competing in the 100 at the regionals. He qualified for state in both the 200 and 400 but only ran the 400 in the state meet.

“We looked at the time schedule and where I was most likely to succeed,” Dixson said. “I always went hard and you need recovery time between races. I looked at the times I was running in the 200 consistently versus the top guys. I wasn’t going to state to finish third. I was going there to win.”

He cruised to a state title in the 400 with a time of :47.37.

Leroy Dixson, right, is joined by his family,
from left, daughter Alexa; son Austin;
son Alijah, and wife Sara.

"When I got to 150, 160 meters, I knew I'd won," Dixson said. "I could feel the tempo and see where the guys were. I felt no pressure going across the finish line."

Dixson’s win was the first boys state track title for Freeport since Mike Smith won the 880-yard run in 1955 and 1956. He’s still just one of five Pretzels to win boys state track titles. He’s been joined by Eric Bowers, 1991, long jump, Devin Valentine in 2012 in the triple jump and Deion McShane’s three hurdles state titles in 2016 and 2017.

After Freeport, Dixson accepted a scholarship to run track and play football at Wisconsin. He thrived for the Badgers, winning the 400-meters at the 1983 Big Ten outdoor championship, and he still holds both the outdoors and indoors records for the 400.

But in 1983, the coach who recruited him, Dan McClimon, died from injuries suffered in an airplane crash. Dixson was competing in Europe when he learned of the death and decided he couldn’t go back.

“Dan was like a father figure to me,” Dixson said.

Dixson ended up at Iowa State for his final two years where he became a two-time All-American, finishing third in the NCAA championship meet in the 4x400-meter relay in 1985 and eighth in the same event in 1986. He also won the Big 8 title in the 440-yard run in 1985 and 300-yard run in 1986.

He met his wife, Sarah, 30 years ago in Houston when he tried out unsuccessfully for the Houston Oilers. They have three children, ages 27, 25 and 16.

He’s been coaching at Enderlin in North Dakota for the past 17 years. Enderlin is a small town of less than 900 people in the southeast corner of the state. Dixson said he thinks about his Freeport days because of his youngest son.

“I look at myself through him,” Dixson said. “He’s actually a much better athlete than me. There’s so much more out there for athletes when it comes to training and competition. A lot has changed since 1981.”

Well, the record books haven't changed. The :47.5 he ran in the 1981 remains the NIC-10 meet record. Duke Joiner of Auburn just missed beating that time in 1985 with a :47.7. 

The 1980s were perhaps the pinnacle of NIC-10 track. Since 1990, the only runner to break :49.0 is Jvontai Hanserd of Jefferson in 1999 when he ran a :48.9.