The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
STYLZ ’N’ SWAGGER
Mitchell energizes Xavier’s storied track and field program
“I want to not only entertain people, I want people to enjoy watching me run.” Stylz Mitchell, track and field star
MIDDLETOWN — Stylz Mitchell was so excited he was screaming. Anyone within earshot of him couldn’t have missed his message.
“Yeah! Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! This race is mine today!”
He’d just finished third in his preliminary 55 meter race at the CIAC State Open Indoor Track and Field Championship in February to qualify for the final race.
The warm-up race may have meant nothing for most, but it meant everything to a guy who might have been dismissed as a potential contender for the fastest boy in the state after his fifth-place finish at the Class L Indoor Championships less than a week earlier.
It meant he was not to be forgotten. It meant that, although you may have averted your eyes for just a moment, redirect them back because he still had something to show.
“When the lights come on and it’s competition time, he’s one of the most fierce competitors I’ve ever coached in my life,” said Andy Guyon, who coached Mitchell in football the last four years.
The lights were brightest on Connecticut’s biggest stage of the indoor season.
True to form — and his word — Mitchell ran a 6.47 in the 55 meters final to tie for first place with Windsor’s Maxim Copeland and earn the right to call himself one of the fastest in the state.
Mitchell has many of these breathtaking moments spread across his football and track career at Xavier.
His swagger as an athlete and person brought excitement back to Xavier track and field and helped resuscitate the sprint and field sides of a storied, championship program.
Mitchell had no desire to run track at
Xavier. He didn’t know anyone who ran track and had a forgettable experience in middle school. He grew up playing football, but was known as one of the fastest kids in his area of Middletown. After dabbling in track, he dedicated his speed to the gridiron.
It wasn’t until he tore his ACL his sophomore season that he considered running track. He was on the path to recovery and needed to do something to get in shape for the upcoming football season. So, he joined the track team.
When Mitchell began running, he didn’t win as much as he does now. But track and field head coach Chris Stonier said Mitchell was a game changer because he helped attract other sprinters, throwers, jumpers and athletes from other sports to a program strong in distance.
“Stylz has been like a magnet in that regard,” Stonier said. “A centerpiece to come to the team and build a program around.”
Xavier, a track and field program that boasts 37 division and Open championships combined, had won indoor titles in 2019 and 2022 but hadn’t won an outdoor title since 1999 by the time Mitchell’s class came along.
The combination of GameTimeCT All-State talents like Mitchell, long jumper Oliver Guzy, pole vaulter Hunter Feitel and long distance division champion John Larkin have helped the program ascend to two more Class L indoor titles in 2023 and 2024.
“It’s what we eat, sleep and think about all the time,” Larkin said. “It’s definitely a challenge but with a special group of guys and people that are so committed to the team like they are, it makes it a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable.”
The Falcons are flying high after winning their third-straight indoor division title, in which they scored in 11 of the meet’s 15 events. Mitchell scored in three different events.
Xavier is all about winning and winning their way, Mitchell said, adding they’re a boisterous crew that prefers respect over approbation.
“We win big and lose big,” Mitchell said. “My fun isn’t laughing and smiling. It’s going through that line before everybody else.”
Guyon likened Mitchell to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. When it comes to competition, Mitchell is a “stone-cold killer,” Guyon said, adding that Mitchell wants to excel, win and be the best.
Mitchell won the 200 meters at the CIAC Class L and New England championships last outdoor season. He’s also a four-time SCC champion.
On the football field, the Central Connecticut State University commit had 23 receptions, 352 yards and seven touchdowns in his final football season at Xavier. He also had four kickoff returns, 144 yards and two more scores on special teams.
Guyon said Mitchell has a special ability to win the moment.
“Whenever the ball was in his hand, you would always kind of take a breath and then hold your breath because you never knew what was coming next,” Guyon said. “He was always that split second away, one move away, or one cut away or something like that from making something happen.”
Mitchell, who affirmed his love for entertaining, forces you to keep his eyes on him. He wears a black cowboy hat at meets that he received two Christmases ago. His parents thought it was apropos because he grew up telling his mother he would one day own a farm with horses.
He has his own line of t-shirts and bracelets with his personalized logos that he’s gifted to his teammates. He always wears a necklace when he runs, or sometimes wears flashy shoes or socks and is the athlete who hypes up the crowd before the race starts and after he wins.
He is always looking for ways to stand out, to separate himself, he said, for the crowd to remember that time when it watched Stylz Mitchell.
“When you see that cowboy hat, you know who’s wearing it, “Mitchell said. “You know what we’re going to do when you see that. I want to not only entertain people, I want people to enjoy watching me run.”
Despite being plagued by injuries that resulted in three surgeries, Mitchell has always returned to the track and football field, unable to disappoint those who want to see him. He can’t not compete — he burns hot, Guyon said of Mitchell.
What’s often overlooked about Mitchell, sprint coach Matthew Conyers said, is how much he respects and loves sprinting. Xavier’s never had a sprinter like Stylz who understands what it takes to be a sprinter, Conyers said, and makes that information digestible enough for his teammates to understand.
Moreover, Mitchell is a fighter, Conyers added, saying he was somewhat hampered when he won that unthinkable 55 meter race.
“What I love most about Stylz is what he does next when we seem to be at our lowest, when we seem to be punched the hardest,” Conyers said. “This is where Stylz does his best work. It’s when he’s on the mat and he’s got to pick himself up for that 12th round.”
Last summer at the Class L outdoor championship meet in New Britain, Mitchell and Xavier were behind almost an entire lap during the 4x400 relay, the last race of the day. It was Newtown’s race to lose.
An exhausted Sam Forte finished the third leg of the race and handed the baton to Mitchell for the final lap.
Mitchell bolted out at full speed, making up for lost ground. The crowd, stunned by his speed, locked in on Xavier’s fastest Falcon as he flew, wondering if he would chase down Newtown’s Soheib Dissa or run out of gas.
The lights were bright and the stage was big — so Mitchell was fully gassed up.
He caught Dissa to win the race, raising a “No. 1” hand as he crossed the finish line.
Xavier went on to win its first outdoor title in 23 years. Once Mitchell was able to stand after giving everything he had to do the unthinkable, he put on his black cowboy hat.