TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Matthew McClintock picked up All-America honors for the second time in as many years on Saturday. The Boilermaker junior finished 19th at the NCAA Championships with a time of 30:41.7.
"Matt is representing the program well," head coach Lonnie Greene said. "He's a warrior and a real trouper. To see how well he competed for as slow as the conditions were with the wind and mud shows how fit and tough he is. He stood in there with the best and competed. I am very excited because the future is bright for Purdue cross country and Matt is taking the lead."
"It was definitely a pedestrian pace for 6,000-meters," assistant coach Jeff Kent said. "It mimicked what we saw at the regional last weekend. Then, it became a race to see who has a kick and Matt responded really well. He put himself in great position at the start and then grinded away. We're definitely ecstatic about his performance."
McClintock's time was 2.5 seconds better than his mark at the national championships last year, even with the windy and muddy conditions.
He got out in 9:13.1 for his first 3,000-meters, which put him in 33rd place. His time over the next 2,000-meters was 6:18.3, but he fell back to 37th place. That's when he started to make his move. McClintock's next 3k was 9:09.1, which moved him up 18 spots to 19th overall. He held that spot for the final 2k, after closing in 6:01.3
"I knew it would be windy, so I wanted to get out in the front 20 or 25 and stay out of the wind," McClintock said. "The pace was a lot slower than I would have preferred, which made it tougher because the lead group was a lot bigger than I would have liked. That played against how I like to race, but in the end I was able to get done what I wanted to and that's all that really matters."
McClintock improved 18 spots from his 37th-place finish a year ago. He was the third Big Ten runner to finish the race, behind Big Ten Champion Malachy Schrobilgen of Wisconsin and Michigan's Mason Ferlic.
"Any time an athlete is creating a note in history like Matt is, it shows how good of shape the program is in. Matt is opening the door for other great distance runners to come in and help us build something great. All we have to do is stay the course and keep working hard, just as Matt has, and we will enjoy the benefits for years to come. We'll have an entire team here in 2015."
McClintock's All-America honor is the second of his career. He becomes Purdue cross country's first two-time All-American since Robert Rodibaugh earned a pair of honors in 1949 and 1950. He is only the third Boilermaker in school history, with Robibaugh and Edward Holderman (1939 and 1941).
"With the way things played out, Matt is happy with his performance, but he wants more," said Kent. "That is what is going to continue to take him to the next level is his hunger for more. Overall, though, we have accomplished some great things. His foot speed and his finishing speed have improved a lot. We're pretty excited about where he is right now heading into the track season."
McClintock has a couple weeks to enjoy his performance before the start of track season. The Boilermakers get started in just three weeks with their first indoor meet at Indiana.
"I always want to do better than what I did," said McClintock. "I think there will be a day in the future when I can look back at my accomplishments and be excited, but I'm a guy that always wants to do better. I'm going to take 10 to 12 days off and then it's onto track season."
The Boilermakers finished the cross country season with McClintock's performance Saturday. Michigan State won the national championship on the women's side, while Colorado was crowned champions for the men.