Connellsville
Fayette County Student/Athlete Scholarship Program Hixson’s determination pays off
CONNELLSVILLE – Winning isn’t everything.
Most athletes would tend to disagree, but Cory Hixson isn’t most athletes.
His first love admittedly being football, Hixson may have learned the most from his junior year of track and field.
“There were two really good throwers in front of me (Clint Richter and Ryan Rumbaugh), and the entire season, it was me trying to catch up to them,” Hixson said. “But I never let those guys get too far ahead of me.”
So, when the season-ending awards were passed out, Hixson was surprised, but very pleased to learn he had been honored with the Most Persistent Award.
Not because he was head and shoulders above the competition in any particular event, but for how much effort he gave and how competitive he was even though he wasn’t always in the spotlight.
Now, the soon-to-be Connellsville graduate is in the spotlight.
And deservedly so.
Hixson was selected as the top male student/athlete at Connellsville Area High School and will receive a $500 scholarship through the Fayette County Student/Athlete Scholarship Program.
The program, sponsored by Davis and Davis Attorneys at Law in conjunction with the Herald-Standard, will provide $7,000 in scholarship money to 14 of Fayette County’s best and brightest student/athletes.
The Scholarship Program will culminate with a banquet, to be held Sunday at 5 p.m. at Uniontown Country Club. At that time, each honoree will receive $500 towards a college education. The event will be videotaped by HSTV for tape-delayed broadcast.
After being presented the track and field honor, Hixson realized something.
“Somebody was paying attention to what I was doing,” he said.
A lot of people have paid attention to Hixson’s accolades. The son of Ronald and Paula Hixson, he is ranked fifth out of 429 classmates and carries a 4.0 grade-point-average. Hixson will continue his education at Georgia Institute of Technology and major in Computer Engineering.
Which leads to another interesting factoid about Hixson. At the risk of banishing him into Nerd Land, Hixson not only likes calculus, he can’t get enough of it.
“Give me a math or science class and I eat it up,” he said. “I love calculus. It’s like you’re learning a new language. It’s so foreign, but when you get it right, it’s like you’ve stepped up to another level.”
The level Hixson ascended to in high school is very impressive. He was a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council Vice President, Gifted Program and Middle States Improvement Team. He was selected for the National Honor Roll, Academic All-Stars, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, Rotary Student of the Month and Spanish National Honor Society.
Hixson earned three letters in football and track and field, and one in wrestling. In football, he was a team captain, a member of Who’s Who in High School Sports, a member of the Fayette County Coaches All-County Team, was selected to the Fay-West All-Stars, was Second Team All-Conference and was voted Connellsville’s Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Early in his high school days, Hixson realized he needed to work hard to get ahead. Now, on the cusp of graduation, Hixson’s hard work has paid huge dividends.
“I saw from the beginning, that if I made sacrifices, in the end, they would pay off. I have no regrets.”
Then again, Hixson has no reason to.