Twin transfer track stars help a program in transition
Matt Watson
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Sports
Two years ago, Alex and Andy McClary weren't even on the Arkansas cross country radar. The identical twin brothers were running for the University of California track team, which hasn't won a national championship since 1922, the year before Babe Ruth and the Yankees opened the original Yankee Stadium.
The Razorbacks, in contrast, boast a record 42 national championships between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, including an indoor title in 2006 while the McClarys were sophomores at Cal.
Two years later, Alex and Andy are in the thick of things in Fayetteville, each of them finishing in the Hogs' top four or better in every appearance. Even though they both admit to being track runners out of place in a cross country world (Alex specializes in the 800 meters, Andy in the 1,500 meters and the mile), the twins finished 11th and 17th overall at the Southeastern Conference Championships, helping Arkansas to a third-place finish. Andy, the older brother by one minute, earned All-SEC honors.
"I wish we had some more cross country guys," Andy said. "We're just doing what we can to help the team. I think it's kind of unfortunate that it's kind of our burden to be the top guys on the team. We're happy to do it but it'd be nice if we had some guys like in the past."
Without the McClarys, the traditionally-dominant Razorbacks would've been another SEC team, led by a first-year coach and only one healthy senior. While the Hogs' bronze finish at the league meet snapped the school's streak of 34 straight conference titles, the team would've been in even worse shape without the twin transfers.
So their decision to come to Arkansas together a year and a half ago has worked out for the Razorbacks so far.
But why would a pair of promising athletes leave the Bay Area to transfer halfway across the country in the middle of their college careers to run out-of-sport for a new coach?
Arkansas ties
Although Alex and Andy consider themselves "West Coast guys," the 6-foot-1 twins were born in Texarkana, Texas, just outside the Natural State. Though they were born on the Texas side of town, the family tradition lay in Arkansas.
The Razorbacks, in contrast, boast a record 42 national championships between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, including an indoor title in 2006 while the McClarys were sophomores at Cal.
Two years later, Alex and Andy are in the thick of things in Fayetteville, each of them finishing in the Hogs' top four or better in every appearance. Even though they both admit to being track runners out of place in a cross country world (Alex specializes in the 800 meters, Andy in the 1,500 meters and the mile), the twins finished 11th and 17th overall at the Southeastern Conference Championships, helping Arkansas to a third-place finish. Andy, the older brother by one minute, earned All-SEC honors.
"I wish we had some more cross country guys," Andy said. "We're just doing what we can to help the team. I think it's kind of unfortunate that it's kind of our burden to be the top guys on the team. We're happy to do it but it'd be nice if we had some guys like in the past."
Without the McClarys, the traditionally-dominant Razorbacks would've been another SEC team, led by a first-year coach and only one healthy senior. While the Hogs' bronze finish at the league meet snapped the school's streak of 34 straight conference titles, the team would've been in even worse shape without the twin transfers.
So their decision to come to Arkansas together a year and a half ago has worked out for the Razorbacks so far.
But why would a pair of promising athletes leave the Bay Area to transfer halfway across the country in the middle of their college careers to run out-of-sport for a new coach?
Arkansas ties
Although Alex and Andy consider themselves "West Coast guys," the 6-foot-1 twins were born in Texarkana, Texas, just outside the Natural State. Though they were born on the Texas side of town, the family tradition lay in Arkansas.
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