Delia McDade-Clay Leads Cross Country In Race to A-10 Title

The Loyola women’s cross country team became Atlantic-10 conference champions for the second consecutive year Oct. 28. Among Loyola’s 10 runners was fifth-year Delia McDade-Clay, who came in at 21:15 in the women’s 6K race, placing sixth overall and first for the Ramblers. 

McDade-Clay said she first began running cross country during her sophomore year of high school. Prior to that, her main focus was soccer, running track to stay in shape during the off-season.

That same year, McDade-Clay underwent a spinal fusion for a scoliosis curvature, a story she wrote about in an article during her freshman year. After receiving the surgery, she was no longer able to play contact sports like soccer, leading her to focus all her time on running. 

Before coming to Loyola for her graduate year, McDade-Clay ran for Siena College in Loudonville, New York during her undergraduate career. At Siena, McDade-Clay helped set four school records with relay teams for the 4x800m and the distance medley. These records accompany many personal accolades she received during her time at Siena such as most improved in 2022 and 2023 along with student of the month in October 2022. 

McDade-Clay said besides wanting to further her academic and athletic career, the initial interaction with the coaches and teammates at Loyola won her over. 

Head coach Gavin Kennedy said aside from the times she was able to get during her four years at Siena, he was first taken with her conversation skills. Kennedy said as a recruit, McDade-Clay was immersed in their conversation and able to clearly state her goals and motivations.

“She knows exactly what she wants to do and when she wants to do it and for her to be able to verbalize those things to me were super important to me,” Kennedy said. “The person that she is, she’s going to go very far in life.”

Looking back on her recent A-10 experience, McDade-Clay said her first championship in the conference was great, emphasizing how nice it was to be able to go into the competition trusting her teammates to give their full effort.

“It’s different when you have a team that you can have confidence in,” McDade-Clay said. “You really are very confident in their ability to score low so that you can win a conference title, and that was a really new experience for me. And it was really special.” 

McDade-Clay said competing in the A-10 Championship has been her favorite experience at Loyola, and being in the championship setting allowed her to take time to realize why she works so hard every day. She said being with both the women’s and men’s teams on the drive back from Ohio gave all of them the time to let their accomplishments soak in.

“There is like a little bit of time to just kind of sink into what you’ve just accomplished as a group,” McDade-Clay said. “Which is really nice, because you have a five hour bus ride home from Ohio that like, there’s nothing else to do except kind of think about, ‘Oh, wow, that was really awesome.’”

Kennedy said McDade-Clay is someone who puts the team first and wants to improve both herself and everyone around her. He said she is always excited to celebrate the successes of her teammates. 

Kennedy went on to discuss McDade-Clay’s work ethic and ability to balance all the parts of her busy life.

“Between being a student, an athlete and a regular human being, she’s well able and very mature to use her time efficiently to be able to balance all three and then ultimately be good at all three at the same time,” Kennedy said.

McDade-Clay said above all, she values her teammates both as individuals and for the contributions all of them bring to the program.

“I’m just grateful to be on a team with so many interesting people,” McDade-Clay said. “All of those girls work so hard,” McDade-Clay said.

McDade-Clay specifically pointed out the success of the team’s many first-year runners. She said it was special to be able to see the newcomers come into college and be able to provide immediate contributions to the team’s success.

Throughout her five years competing in college athletics, McDade-Clay said she has learned a lot from her experience but says the most important thing she’s learned is to make the most of every moment. 

“Moments are really important to just sink into and be present in, because they’re very finite, and it’s like moments happen, and then they’re done,” McDade-Clay said. “Each kind of season of your life has a huge timeline on it. So it’s really important to just enjoy where you are and enjoy the in-between time of things. It’s a lot of work, but it’s really worth it if  you’re just present when you can be.”

Featured image by Holden Green | The Phoenix