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LAPLACE — Countless hours of hard work and unwavering faith in God gave Stephen Mixon the opportunity to pursue track and field at the University of Mobile. He recently signed a long-awaited track scholarship, surrounded by his family and St. John Legends Track Club Coach Mark Creecy.

Track and field didn’t always seem like the perfect fit for Mixon. He tried a few sports at Archbishop Rummel before the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary pause on school athletics. Coming back to school, Mixon signed up for the track team just to experience something new, not knowing at the time how that decision would shape his future.

“I went out and tried it, but it wasn’t really something I was in shape for,” Mixon said.

He didn’t make the cut for varsity, and he was feeling discouraged until Coach Creecy invited him to run with the St. John Legends over the summer.

“That’s when I really started liking it a lot more, when I did summer track with him,” Mixon said. “I came back the next year and saw how much better and faster I had gotten.”

At school, Mixon ran in the 100, 200, 400, and all of the relay events. During the summer, he expanded his skill set to field events such as the long jump and javelin, earning a trip to the Junior Olympics in 2022. It was an experience like no other, and there were times he felt like he was an actual Olympic athlete.

Coming out of one of the strongest districts in the state, Mixon set a personal record of 10.8 seconds in the 100m dash. This spring’s district meet was the most memorable, not only because it was the last meet of his high school career, but also because it gave him a chance to see how much the underclassmen he took under his wing have improved over the course of the season.

However, Mixon’s biggest track accomplishment is his commitment to the University of Mobile.

“The whole season, I’ve been hoping to get a scholarship so my parents wouldn’t have to pay for college,” he said.

Mixon had some prospects from smaller schools, but a bigger opportunity came his way once Coach Creecy connected with the track coach in Mobile.

Mixon plans to study biology pre-med with plans to become an orthopedic surgeon. He credits his future career choice to his involvement in track and field.

Watching his teammates face minor injuries and having to overcome some himself, Mixon was inspired to learn more about how the human body functions and how tight muscles can correlate to pain in other areas of the body.

Above all, Mixon knows God will always guide his path in life.

“There are a lot of times I got knocked down, and without God, I would not have gotten back up,” he said.

Mixon is the son of Pamela Mixon and Stephen Mixon Sr.