Hayden McClain: The Hunt for Success

No matter the situation people are continually striving for excellence - to be the best; to be elite amongst their peers; to reach the pinnacle of their craft. For the past two years, Hayden McClain has been on that hunt for greatness in his athletic pursuits. An avid hunter in his downtime, the junior from Phoenix, Ariz., is familiar with the dedication, patience and focus that greatness requires. He recently reaped the rewards of his consistent pursuit and won the triple jump at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship. That feat came after finishing as the runner-up the last two seasons in both indoor and outdoor conference competition. For the NCAA Championship qualifier, it isn't just enough to experience a taste of success, but as a team captain and an older brother, he is tasked with setting the example and standards for others to follow. It is a responsibility he is reminded of daily when he looks in the mirror and sees a pair of tattoos - one on each bicep - with his sisters' names. He is also reminded of his role during practices where he provides wisdom and guidance for younger teammates in their own journeys. The newly crowned champion was kind enough to take a hop, step and a jump away from the sand pit to talk about his track and field journey, his hobbies and his career plans.

On winning his first Big 12 title:

"It was pretty awesome. It was an emotional win for me and (Coach Jim VanHootegem) because I've gotten second four times in a row (Big 12 indoor and outdoor competitions). I kind of knew that if I was consistent like I had been all season jumping over 16 meters (approx. 52-6 feet), that at this championship I could come away with a win. At the Big 12 Championship meets, it doesn't really matter what you are ranked because I went in ranked second this year; last year I went in ranked eighth in the long jump and finished fourth. Now I know, moving forward, that if I just put it together on the day of the meet then I can do better than I've been doing."

On his bond with his sisters:

"During my freshman year, I got my ears pierced and I wanted to get tattoos, but some that meant something to me. I have a tattoo on each bicep and one of my two sisters' names on each side. I really love them and it just reminds me that I have to protect them and keep them under my arms. They both look up to me. Justyce is 18 and she plays softball at McNeese State. My youngest sister, Sydnee, also plays softball and just turned 8. She really looks up to both of us. I talk to my older sister like every other day, usually on Snapchat or FaceTime. I also FaceTime with my mom and younger sister on the weekends. I like being a role model for both of them. They know that they can come to me for anything if they need help."

On how he got into track and field:

"I played football (outside receiver) in high school and I never really thought about doing track. Sophomore year of high school I was pretty slow for a football player, and I wanted to do track to get faster so I started off as a sprinter. Towards the end of the season, I saw some people doing the long jump and triple jump and I thought that it looked fun. So I went over and tried it. By the end of sophomore year, I ended up being pretty decent at jumping. I really enjoyed it and after sophomore year I started to focus on track more instead of football. In my junior and senior years, I became pretty good at the triple jump and that took over as my main sport instead of football. I didn't even really sprint anymore in track, either."

On hunting and other hobbies:

"I like to go hunting sometimes to hunt birds, coyotes, rabbits and squirrels in Lexington and Noble. My grandpa and uncles are the ones who got me into hunting when I was really young. I've been into it ever since. I think it was in seventh grade and in Northern Arizona when I hit my first target. My step brother and I both hit elks within five minutes of each other. We jumped up and down in the middle of the woods - I can't even explain the excitement. It makes me laugh thinking about how much we celebrated. We brought the elks back to camp and ate them later. Away from the track, I also play golf, which I used to play almost every weekend in the fall semester but not that much anymore. When it gets warmer in spring, I'll probably end up golfing more. My friends and I also play 'Cornhole' in the backyard and a lot of video games when I'm just hanging out around the house."

On what about Oklahoma appealed to him:

"I didn't really know much about Oklahoma before coming here but once the previous coach contacted me I did more research and understood that it was a really good school for sports. I was pretty interested in coming here. I'm from Arizona and I didn't really want to stay in Arizona. I was getting offers from the Arizona schools but I kind of wanted to move out and move away from my parents so that if I needed help with something I couldn't just drive back home and get it. I wanted to struggle on my own and be away for a couple years to see what it was like living by myself. It also helped that OU had a strong communications program. I can take my communication skills that I've learned here and coach maybe high schoolers at first and then become a college coach. I learn things easily when it comes to people coaching me, so in the future I hope to share my knowledge and teach younger athletes. I want to be a jumps coach because I'm really into jumping and understand the techniques."

On his mindset before he competes:

"I don't really get that nervous before jumping. I like to think of it as another day of doing what I love to do and to go out and have fun. I do get mad if I don't jump well, but when I do jump well I get really happy. You'll see me out there jumping and I'll smile a lot. I try to make the competition fun and make sure I enjoy it. My mindset going in is also to just do what I'm capable of doing and to not try to do anything crazy but, again, remembering to have fun while doing it. I go in with a goal in mind of a certain distance. If I jump a distance lower than the goal but I executed what we worked on in practice, then I know that if I keep working on it and fix whatever I didn't do right to hit that distance, it will come the following week."

On being named a captain:

"The last two years, I didn't really venture out and talk to a lot of people on the team - but just our event group, not the throwers or the distance runners. However, I looked up to Brandon Doughty, one of the seniors on the team who is an All-American and is really easy to talk to. He's really helpful when it comes to things you need so I'd like to be a guy like Brandon. Towards the end of last year, I started becoming friends with more people on the team, and at the beginning of this year I would go around and meet the new freshmen even though they were not in our group. I started to enjoy meeting different people from other areas on the team. I think when I was voted team captain everyone knew me and knew I was supportive. I like to go talk to other people and just see how everyone is doing. It felt pretty good being named a team captain and I like that people can look up to me for help or answers if they need."

Extras:

What's on his iPod: Drake and any hip-hop, rap and R&B.
What's on his Netflix: I'm a big "Marvel" fan. I've seen every "Avengers" movie, the "Hulk" movies, "Iron Man" movies, "Captain America", "The Ant-Man" movie that just came out.
What's in his belly: Any burger; whatever restaurant we go to I go to the burger section and look for a really good burger.

On winning his first Big 12 title:

On his bond with his sisters:

On how he got into track and field:

On hunting and other hobbies:

On what about Oklahoma appealed to him:

On his mindset before he competes:

On being named a captain:

Extras:

Players Mentioned

Brandon Doughty

Brandon Doughty

Hayden McClain

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics