Upbeat Coach Endures Lows -- Cliff Nixon Of Newport Perseveres, And Succeeds
Cliff Nixon turns 59 today. But if you want to wish him a happy birthday, get in line.
If you can find him.
Newport High's cross-country coach already has already been given five birthday dinners, and another friend is taking him out Monday night.
"He's got a lot of friends. I can't believe it," said Alice Minton, Nixon's sister and roommate. "I told Clifford I wish I knew those kinds of friends."
But Minton also knows she has one of those kinds of friends in her brother.
"He is a great guy," she said. "He's very kind. And he's positive all the time."
It's a commonly held view of the retired math teacher, who has coached track and cross country for 37 years at five Eastside schools.
"He treats people with kindness and treats people with respect," said Bellevue High Coach John Hill, who ran for Nixon at Bellevue when Nixon coached there in the 1980s. "And people respond to that, especially kids."
Other coaches may be more skilled at teaching the technical aspects of the sport. But few are more successful. And no one more unabashedly, undeniably positive in his approach.
How positive? Nixon and Minton lost most of their belongings in an apartment fire three months ago, not long after Nixon's renter's insurance had lapsed. Neither was hurt in the blaze.
"I didn't lose my life. I didn't lose my health. I didn't lose my happiness," he said.
As long as he can coach, as long as he can work with kids, happiness will never be too far from Nixon. "It's my passion," he said.
The passion continues tomorrow at what he calls his favorite cross-country meet, the KingCo Conference championship meet, at Lake Sammamish State Park (girls race at 3:15 p.m.; boys at 3:45 p.m.)
His unbeaten boys and girls teams try for their second KingCo meet sweep in as many seasons with Nixon at the helm. Both teams also qualified for state last season - a Newport first.
Before that, Nixon coached seven teams to the Class AAA state meet in eight seasons at Interlake. He also has coached at Tyee Junior High, Bellevue High and Mercer Island High.
Always the optimist, if not the favorite, he said, "I look for great things to happen (tomorrow)."
Those are Nixon strengths. Looking for great things. Looking for tomorrow.
And looking to pass on that ideal.
"We're in the world to make it a better place to live, and the first place to start is with people," he said. "To make it a better world, you have to have better people."
That's what coaching is all about, he said.
"It worked for me," said Hill, who has qualified for the 1996 Olympic marathon trials.
"It's just infectious."
And at least as unbelievable - that perspective, that positive outlook - considering the tragedies, as cruel in their number, endured by Nixon.
Twenty-six years ago, one of his nine sisters died of multiple sclerosis.
Then 18 days after that, another sister, who lived with Nixon, was killed in Nixon's home by her estranged husband, who then killed himself.
Nixon and his wife, who already had three children and had another due in a month, took over raising his two toddler nephews.
His closest brother, Terry, died of cancer six years after that, at age 38. "He was not only my brother, he was my best friend," Nixon said.
In 1987, one of his adopted nephews killed himself.
Three years later, Nixon's second wife (of 15 years) died of cancer.
"It's just incredible," Hill said. "You wouldn't expect someone to recover from that and be like he is - from even one of those things.
"But he takes things from the worst perspective and tries to channel it as positive as he can."
Said Nixon: "We all have tragedy - it's just how we come through it. I get strength from the Man upstairs. If I didn't have Him, I don't know what I'd do."
He also gets strength from kids.
"I don't remember having a real bad kid anywhere I've coached," he said.
"These things happen to everybody. I love my life. I love what I do. I love coaching kids. . . . I hope to do it until I'm at least 75."
Meanwhile, he plans to continue working with kids and helping develop young coaches such as Hill and current assistants Mitch Leffler (former Newport and University of Washington runner) and Mindy Schneider (Issaquah, Georgetown).
And to continue striving this season, which he has dedicated to his late mother.
"I've been thinking a lot about her this year. I'm not sure why," he said.
And to continue making friends. Which is all part of remembering what's important.
"Life is very precious, but at the same time, life is very fragile," he said. "In an instant it can change."
These days, all the changes are going Nixon's way.
"I'm really happy now. And healthy," he said. "I'm a little heavy, but healthy - mentally and spiritually.
"It's hard to believe I'm 59. I feel like I'm 39."
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KingCo conference cross-country meet
What - KingCo Conference cross-country championship meet. When, where - Thursday at Lake Sammamish State Park. Times - Varsity girls 3:15 p.m., varsity boys 3:45 p.m. Defending team champions - Newport boys and girls. Defending individual champions - Girls: Dana Hughes, Woodinville, 18:48; Boys: Scott Paul, Eastlake, 15:13. Boys team favorites - Woodinville, Inglemoor, Newport. Girls team favorites - Newport, Issaquah, Redmond. Boys individual favorites - Kyle Smits, Newport, junior; Joey Corr, Eastlake, junior; Jason Fryberg, Bothell, senior; Efrem Kidane, Inglemoor, senior. Girls individual favorites - Kate Bradshaw, Issaquah, freshman; Kate Centerwall, Newport, junior; Shelby Jacobs, Lake Washington, junior; Dana Hughes, Woodinville, senior.