Bear Creek track star among nation's best despite disabilities
STOCKTON — Disability did not prevent Kiarrah Dixon from starring in track at Bear Creek High School.
Dixon, who is visually impaired and cannot fully extend her arms, received eight scholarship offers for track and field before finally signing a letter of intent to attend Guilford College in North Carolina.
She will also be competing in the 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter and the shot put at the 2022 CIF Track and Field State meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis scheduled for May 27-28.
"I got here today because of perseverance and always pushing myself to the farthest limits. I just hope to be the best me I can be really," Dixon, 17, said.
She is a three-time Junior Olympic National champion and was ranked the eighth best miler in the U.S. at the age of 13.
"Kiarrah is a very special person; she had some physical handicaps in her upper body and her eyesight and she's overcome them. It's difficult for her to get down in the blocks but she does it." said Stanley Wells, head coach for girls cross country and track and field at Bear Creek.
Dixon also played varsity tennis at Bear Creek.
"One of the things I love about Kiarrah is that she tries anything," her godmother Danelle Shelton said. "She wasn't good at track, she wasn't good at soccer, she wasn't good at a lot of things but she just kept trying every year. She had a lot of bad days and then good days came in between. The lesson I think that I've learned from her is that she is resilient."
Dixon knew Wells long before she began attending and competing at Bear Creek.
The cross country coach saw her when she was first starting to run and has witnessed the Guilford College commit's remarkable transformation.
"I first met her when she was in seventh grade. She was struggling to walk, but eventually she became a good walker and was in competitive walking," he said. From there her legs started building up to the point where she could finally run, and now she has tremendously strong legs."
Dixon has more than 75 medals.
"I once asked her if she wanted to get surgery. She told me, 'no, it's part of who I am, there's nothing wrong with me,' " Shelton said.
In addition to sports, Dixon has had academic success.
"This year she was on the prom court, she was student of the quarter three times, was on the speech and debate team, she was the Link Crew commissioner, on the Conflict Mediation team and was on honor roll every quarter all four years," Wells said.
Dixon plans to major in criminal justice with a long-term goal of becoming an attorney.
"I hope to really go somewhere in life," she said.
And to be a role model for others.
"She just really shows anybody that has these kind of disabilities, they can do what they want if they really put their minds to it," Wells said.
Record reporter David Victor covers sports. He can be reached at dvictor@recordnet.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Bear Creek track star shines despite disabilities
