A St. Lawrence student athlete is on a new track towards an Olympic goal. Alec MacCrory ’17 spent this past week at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid trying out for the U.S. Men’s Skeleton developmental program.
Skeleton is a winter sport similar to luge where an athlete, called a slider, steers a sled head first down an icy track, reaching speeds of up to 80mph. After taking a combined fitness test last summer, MacCrory was invited back to Lake Placid to try skeleton for the first time. A runner for the St. Lawrence Men’s Cross-Country and Track and Field teams, his flexibility as an athlete helped with his conditioning for the combine tests.
It is very common for athletes competing in sliding sports to have background in track and field. “Kids from our programs go on and do biathlons, skiing and some of the sliding sports so it’s not unprecedented,” said John Newman, head coach of both cross-country and track. Previous training for track gives the athletes the sprinting ability and coordination needed for the start. The start is essential, according to MacCrory. “Without a good sprint you’re not going to do well,” he remarked.
Though his previous training boosted his combined scores, the conditioning for skeleton and cross-country are different. “We’re trying to make his training conducive to benefit both, so it’s a little bit of a compromise from both ends,” said Newman. Once the track and field season begins, mutually beneficial training will be easier due to the more power-oriented nature of track events. “Cross-country running makes you smaller,” explained MacCrory, “and to balance it out so I wasn’t losing muscle mass I was lifting with the sprinters.”
Many top athletes start sliding on a whim, because of general interest or just living near a track. While it is one of the easiest Olympic sports to pick up, there is an emphasis on experience. It is not unusual for skeleton sliders train for eight to twelve years before competing at an international level.
MacCrory, a software engineering major, is the second youngest in the program. While training part time, his priority is staying in school. “In skeleton, [they] want you to graduate school first because it doesn’t make any money,” according to MacCrory. “Unless you’re basically top three in your sport in the country you’re completely self-funded.”
Continuing with training will lead to some long days moving forward. “Until I graduate, it’s going up as much as I can, getting as much training under my belt as I can and sprinting over the summers,” MacCrory said. That means commuting to Lake Placid three to five times a week starting in January. After that, his coaches want him to move to Lake Placid and commit full time.
For Alec MacCrory, the work and time commitment is worth it for the feeling of being on the sled. “I have ADD and I’m all over the place 100 percent of the time except for a run. You have zero time to think about anything else. It is an amazing experience.”