Alyssa McClure Excited for Outdoor Season
By David Villavicencio
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Alyssa McClure feels like she can finally run.
Despite qualifying for the 60m finals at the ACC Indoor Championships, McClure is thrilled to be competing outdoors where she feels most comfortable.
“It’s a matter of a bigger track and you have more room to run,” McClure said. “I like outdoor better than indoor overall.”
The senior looked comfortable in her 2014 outdoor debut, winning both the women’s 100m and 200m at the Hurricane Invitational last weekend. McClure was especially happy with her performance in the 200m, where she turned in a personal-best time of 23.75 seconds that currently ranks 13th in the country.
“I just felt more relaxed about my turnover,” McClure said. “Doing well, it boosted my confidence a lot. Doing the best for my 200, it showed that I keep getting better and better.”
McClure and the Hurricanes are home for three of the first four weeks of the 2014 outdoor season. Following last weekend’s Hurricane Invitational, Miami will host two more meets at Cobb Stadium: the Miami Invitational on March 29 and the Hurricane Alumni Invitational on April 12.
“I like being at home,” McClure said. “I’m more comfortable here. We practice here. And we can stay fresh here. During indoor the travel can take a toll on your body. In outdoor we are home a lot so I can practice on the track and I don’t have to get on the airplanes or buses for long trips.”
The Baltimore, Md., native thinks it is a huge advantage to compete at home three times before the ACC Outdoor Championships on April 17-19.
“I think we can focus more on getting better every day,” McClure said. “In indoor season we would travel on Thursday so we would only practice on Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday mornings. But now that we’re home, we can practice in the afternoons or we can practice on Thursdays and we can do previews on Friday instead of Thursdays. The schedule is different because we have more days available to us and that should help us build up to ACCs.”
As a senior, McClure feels like she needs to help lead the team. The gifted sprinter prefers to lead by example, working hard on the track and in the weight room.
“I’ve grown a lot,” McClure said. “I’ve been working a lot with weights and in practice. Coming off indoor this year, I feel stronger going into outdoors. I want to do better than I did in indoors. I want to want to be get better and stronger and help the team more.”
McClure and the Canes will be back in action Saturday at the Miami Invitational. Action begins at 9 a.m. with the javelin.
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