Canes on Track with Alyssa McClure

By Amanda Phillips

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The weather may have been what appealed to her initially, but Alyssa McClureknew coming to the University of Miami would help her achieve her ultimategoal.

“I was looking at sprints and this has been a powerhouse inthe past,” McClure said. “I have big dreams and goals and I wanted to pursuethem further.”

Coming to Miami did take some getting used to for theBaltimore, Md., native.

“The hardest part was training in the heat because I feellike I can’t breathe,” McClure said. “You have to get used to how to breathedown here. That was really important for my training.”

Once the junior got used to the climate, she was off to theraces. At the 2013 ACC Indoor Championships, McClure finished third in thewomen’s 60m dash with a time of 7.36 seconds.

“I’ve been working really hard,” McClure said. “But goingtowards the meet, my season was kind of staying around 7.4 in the 60m. It was ashock to me to do that in the finals. This one was a big personal record.”

The sprinter doesn’t only run the 60m. She also participatesin the women’s 200m, as well as the 4x100m and the 4x400m relays.

“They’re all really sprints, so you have to get out in allof them,” McClure said. “You just have to get out and run as fast as you can,as hard as you can, for as long as you can.”

Getting through practices can be tough, admits McClure. Butwhen you have support from teammates and coaches, you can make it.

“When one of us is tired, everyone is tired because we havemostly the same workouts,” McClure said. “The coaches help us and give usconfidence, but we’re pumping each other up and trying to get each otherthrough.”

McClure has been running track since she was six years oldand she wants to take it as far as she can.

“I have dreams of going to the Olympics,” McClure said. “Iwant to work towards those, but I’ve been running track for 15 years, so Ireally want to go as far as I can.”