Landree McClure is making a name for herself playing lacrosse at Golden. In addition to being a standout athlete, she's a stellar student and battles diabetes.
Courtesy photo
When
Landree McClure was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April 2017, it rocked her world.
As an eighth-grader, she was looking forward to starting high school in a few short months. Her focus shifted to something different. Obviously, a serious concern that would weigh on her mind.
"I had all summer to figure it out but walking into high school is a little bit scary and be independent with it and making sure that I'm managing it well," McClure said. "It's definitely a lot of stress. However, in the last two years I've learned a lot more about myself as a student and as an athlete because of it.
"I've definitely persevered through a lot of hardships in my life, but my dad and I always talk about how diabetes won't ever be a limiting factor for me. It steals a lot of my time but it will never steal my drive to be a good student or a good athlete."
There's no doubt that McClure is a magnificent student-athlete at
Golden (Colo.). In the classroom, she is coming off a first semester in which he registered a 4.3 weighted grade point average. In athletics, where her sport is lacrosse, she's a deadly scoring option and one of her team's best players as a sophomore.
Diabetes doesn't slow the 16-year-old down in any aspect of her life. However, stress and adrenaline can make her blood sugar spike. No worries, McClure is on it.
McClure helps raise money for a diabetes charity.
Courtesy photo
"There's nothing much that I can do about having it, so I might as well make the best of it," McClure said. "It's just something I have to take care of sometimes is the way I look at it."
Her outlook about something most teenagers don't have to deal with on a regular basis is inspiring. That's McClure in a nutshell.
"The one thing that I really like about Landree is that it doesn't (hamper her), she just handles it herself," Golden's girls lacrosse coach Michael Zinanti said. "She powers through it. What she does is says, ‘I've got this. I've got to take care of this and I'll be right back.' She doesn't want to make a deal about it or does she want it to be hidden — she just goes and does it."
Even before being diagnosed with diabetes, McClure was an accomplished lacrosse player. Her passion for the sport stems from her dad, Robby, who played at Colorado State. She played on her first lacrosse team in second grade and took off from there.
As a freshman, McClure started a number of games and registered eight goals and four assists. The next year, Zinanti plugged his phenom into the lineup and she produced with 13 goals and eight assists.
"I definitely think I'm more confident this year being a sophomore," McClure said. "There were so many freshmen on the team last year, it was kind of hard to be confident on the team and all the upperclassmen. But I think this year as a sophomore it's a lot easier to be confident on the field."
McClure was the No. 3 scoring option this year for Golden. She's solid on the offensive attack and has an innate knack to get open around the net.
Zinanti uses the term sneaky to describe McClure's game.
"She has the ability to really fly under the radar, get behind her defenders," Zinanti said. "She always finds herself open in the center of the arc."
McClure has found her best method to be an effective scorer at the high school level. She tends to keep defenses off guard with plenty of shot fakes.
"I think it just makes the shot look so pretty, and I love looking back on game film and just looking at the pump fakes that we throw," McClure said.
At just 5-foot-2, McClure doesn't have to be too sneaky to deke out defenders. She can shed an opponent by making quick, observant cuts.
After a solid freshman campaign and a few standout games as a sophomore — including a four-goal game — McClure has garnered extra attention from defenders when Golden possesses the ball.
"I also noticed that during a couple games I was being face-guarded by a couple defenders after a good game that we had where I had a couple of more shots than I usually do," McClure said. "It makes me feel super good. It's like, 'oh my gosh, I'm a threat.' "
McClure high school lacrosse season just wrapped up and club ball is next. Since sixth grade, she has played for the Denver Outlaws. The squad mostly competes in national tournaments, so McClure and her teammates will be traveling to a number of big invites this summer.
McClure is hoping to attract interest from colleges this summer. She would like to play lacrosse at the next level but doesn't want it to compromise how she does as a student.
"Academics is definitely my first priority when it comes to choosing a college," McClure said. "Definitely, lacrosse is a factor that I will look into but I'm not going to be playing lacrosse forever and I want to go to a school where I can learn what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life."
Along with her dedication to academics and athletics, McClure has become an advocate for diabetes.
After being diagnosed, she latched onto close family friends who have a 9-year-old son, Murphy, who also suffers from the medical condition. McClure was asked to co-host a diabetes charity event called Half Way to St. Patrick's Day that happens every September. In the first two years McClure has been a part of the charity, $30,000 was raised. That money goes toward sending kids ages about 5-13 to Camp Colorado, which was designed to expand kids' knowledge about diabetes while creating memories with new friends.
McClure is also a youth ambassador for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). She spreads awareness about diabetes at the local level.
Being able to be a spokesperson for diabetes and help kids is something that is close to McClure's heart.
"It's everything to me because I know there are a lot of families that aren't as fortunate as us and can't afford opportunities like that," McClure said. "It's so important to me to know that I'm helping them out because diabetes isn't easy and I think that whatever I can do to make it less hard for people I think is a really good thing."
Know an incredible student-athlete who stands out in sports and in life away from competition? Click here to nominate them for a chance to be featured on MaxPreps.
As a freshman, McClure started a number of games and registered eight goals and four assists. The next year, she produced with 13 goals and eight assists.
Courtesy photo
