Posted on 04/07/2006 7:58:17 AM PDT by a_dem_no_more
Army Womens Basketball Coach Maggie Dixon, who led the Black Knights to their First NCAA Tournament, in her first Head coaching season has died at age 28 of cardiac arrythmia.
Very sad.
WOW. Just had a colleague at work die of the same thing at 37yrs old. Good shape and all.
Was she tall, an ex-basketball player? I have a friend whose daughter, a runner, 5' 10", exhibited arrythmia and had to sports.
Prayers for the coach's family and the Army athletic family too.
Yeah she played in college. I forget where now. I think she was over six feet. She was a class indvidual in a school full of them, We have season tickets for the Hockey team and would drift over sometimes in between periods to watch the hoop games. I actually made it a point to take my two sons over to watch a couple of their games. I wanted to show my son what strong, intelligent women look like. Of course they have a great example at home as well. Its really really horrible this happened.
Oh my. What a tragic story. Prayers for her family, players and fans.
Oh no. Much too young. Prayers for her family.
She is Pitt's mens coach's sister... quite the news that both took their teams to the tourney in the same year.. think it may have been first time ever a brother and sister had done that.
Yes, I can't imagine being her father, which I could be. She was two years older than my younger daughter, and 4 years younger than my older daughter.
My thoughts are with her parents, siblings and grandparents. I never lost a child, or a sibling, but I did lose three first cousins, the oldest of them was about 21 when he died, his older brother was only about 17 and our mutual cousin was only 16 when she died.
This can happen to anyone and it happens to more young people than most of us realize, often with no warning at all. For many, nothing can really be done but learn CPR and demand AEDs (defibrillators) in schools and athletic venues.
My thoughts go out to Maggie Dixon's family
R.I.P.
Very sad.
If I read the stories correctly, she was actually at a friend's house, drinking tea. She "didn't feel well" according to reports, and collapsed. For such a young person with a promise of a great future, this is very sad.
"If I read the stories correctly, she was actually at a friend's house, drinking tea. She "didn't feel well" according to reports, and collapsed. For such a young person with a promise of a great future, this is very sad."
She was, and in this case not much could probably be done (no idea if the friend tried CPR), but this type of thing is more likely to happen during or right after physical exertion.
Marfan's Syndrome?
My best friend died of this in college.....earlier in the day had met Ronald Reagan at the White House celebrating the Notre Dame National Championship, then died that night.
Really threw me for a loop then.
I received this from my HS this morning:
Dear Notre Dame Alumni and Friends:
By now, many of you have heard about the passing of Maggie Dixon ’95. Maggie's death has received national attention and so many ND alums have written to us expressing their sorrow and disbelief. We are sending this email to the alumni community since so many of you know Maggie and her amazing story, as well as her family, Jim (father), Marge (mother), Jamie '83 (brother) and Julie (sister). The family really appreciates your support at this difficult time. Please forward this email to anyone who knows the Dixon family in case we do not have their email addresses.
Funeral Service for Maggie Dixon
Tuesday, April 11, 10 a.m.
St. Charles Borromeo Church
10828 Moorpark Street
North Hollywood, California
(818) 766-3838
Cards for the Dixon family can be sent to:
The Dixon Family
c/o Notre Dame High School
13645 Riverside Drive
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
The Dixon’s have asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Notre Dame High School (Maggie Dixon '95 Memorial Scholarship Fund) or the Army Athletic Fund.
Donations to the Notre Dame H.S. Maggie Dixon '95 Memorial Scholarship Fund can be sent to:
Notre Dame High School
Maggie Dixon '95 Memorial Scholarship Fund
13645 Riverside Drive
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Please direct any questions about this fund to Sharon Marciniak at (818) 933-3611.
Donations to the Army Athletic Fund can be sent to:
Army Athletic Fund
639 Howard Road
West Point, NY 10996
Please direct any questions about this fund to Matt Borman at (845) 938-2322.
Maggie (class of 1995) had a huge impact at Notre Dame High School – on her friends, classmates, teammates, coaches and teachers. Her classmates voted her as having “best sense of humor” and the coaches gave her the Female Athlete of the Year award at graduation. She was captain of the Varsity basketball and Varsity track & field teams her senior year. In basketball, she led the Knights with an average of 13.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists (school record) and 2.6 blocked shots per game. During Maggie’s senior year, the girls’ basketball team had the best record at that point in school history and the team went all the way to the CIF semi-finals for the first time in history. She received a scholarship to play basketball at the University of San Diego. In track & field at Notre Dame, she also held the discus record for 10 years and she led her teammates to victory & the CIF Championships. Even after graduation, Maggie stayed very close to her alma mater. Just last February when she was the Assistant. Coach at DePaul University, she wrote a beautiful inspirational letter to the ND girls’ varsity basketball team, congratulating them on winning Mission League for the first time in girls’ basketball history and she also pushed them to “want more” -- for the team had the playoffs to conquer. The girls were so touched that a collegiate level coach would take the time to write them a three page letter.
Maggie’s brother, Jamie, also attended Notre Dame and graduated in 1983. Jamie is the men’s head basketball coach at University of Pittsburgh and was very influential in Maggie’s collegiate coaching career. Maggie took the head coach position at Army in October 2005 just days before the season was to begin. Under Maggie, the team won the Patriot League Championship and the first Patriot League Conference Tournament Championship. She also led them to their first NCAA tournament in team history and was named Patriot League Coach of the Year. Maggie was just 28 years old.
There have been several articles about Maggie’s latest accomplishments as the Army Women’s Head Basketball coach and also about her death. Here are just a few:
U.S. Military Academy (West Point): http://www.usma.edu/
U.S. Military Academy Maggie Dixon Profile: http://goarmysports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/dixon_maggie00.html
L.A. Times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-dixon8apr08,0,667273.story?coll=la-home-headlines
CNN.com: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/ncaa/women/04/07/dixon.obit.ap/index.html
ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=wojnarowski_adrian&id=2399580
ESPN will air a piece on Maggie and the Army women's basketball team during SportsCenter on Sunday morning at approximately 11:30 a.m. (EST)
College Sports Television (CSTV) announced it will re-broadcast the 2006 Patriot League Women's Basketball Championship Game, played March 8, between Army and Holy Cross, at 4:30 p.m. (EST) Saturday afternoon. A tribute to Maggie will follow the game on CSTV's No. 1 College Sports Show.
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