('CU Q&A' is an occasional feature of www.cumountainlions.com, spotlighting Mountain Lion student-athletes and coaches.)
He's also left a legacy in the classroom, with an outstanding GPA and multiple appearances on Concord's Dean's List.
The senior from Pulaski, VA has the same concerns of many of his classmates: He'll graduate in May, is searching for a job, and wonders what his future holds. However, unlike many student-athletes, he's seeking a career in an art-related field. Plus, he'd like to stay involved in running as a coach or a competitor, or both.
Another legacy of McDaniel's career is the high regard people have for him. As his coach, Mike Cox, said, “Lance is a great guy. He's honestly one of the nicest people you'll ever want to meet.”
McDaniel recently talked with Concord Sports Information Director Kyle Cooper about his athletic career, his time at CU and his future.
Your GPA is way up there – somewhere in the area of 3.96. What's your secret? How do you go about putting together an impressive number like that while still competing as a varsity athlete in cross country and track and field?
Well, I'm not a biology major or anything like that (laughs). I major in Studio Art & Graphic Design, and you could say it's a little bit easier. I just work hard, and the Good Lord has blessed me with the drive to want to do well in academics as well as athletics. I try to fit it all in.
Especially this last year – I had to do Bonner Scholarship work last year, when I had to do volunteer work – so this year's it's been easier to keep up with the grades.
The workload's gotten harder, but my ability to adjust to it improved. My freshman year, I remember it being a pretty easy schedule. It got harder from there, but as a fifth-year senior I've found it a little bit easier to get everything done.
Tell us about your major. What drew you to it in the first place?
All through high school, all I wanted to do was go to Virginia Tech and be an architect. That's all I wanted to do through high school, but I guess the Lord has other plans.
I came here for a visit in the spring of my senior year of high school and … I wasn't planning on running, but I had been talking to Coach (Mike Cox) and came here and asked about Graphic Design. I looked at it, and fell in love with Concord that day, and told myself, “OK, I'm going to go to Concord and major in Graphic Design, and I'm going to run.”
It really excited me. I decided to double-major with Studio Art, and my art skills have really improved since I've been here.
Do you have any artistic influences or favorite artists?
We study a lot of different artists, in art class and art history classes. As for immediate influences, a lot of my professors here are really talented.
There's Fernando Porras, who's got art shows all the time, and he sells them all out. It's been great to have him as a professor.
Jack Sheffler, Kevin Bennington, all these great graphic designers and studio painters – it's a great experience to learn from them. They've been great influences and they know what they're talking about.
When it comes to favorite artists … I really like figures, and drawing people, so while it's clichéd for me to say it, I love Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci – I love their figures, their Renaissance style.
There are some illustrators out there today, too, that I really like. This may sound geeky, but there's Alex Ross, who's a comic artist. He's got a very photographic style that I really like. It's just amazing.
My dad is artistic, too. He never took classes or anything, but I guess that's where I got it from.
What would you like to do once you graduate? Would you like to forge a career in Studio Art or Graphic Design?
Right now I'm looking at Graphic Design. There's more of an opportunity in that. If studio (work) presents itself, I'd like to paint. I have a show coming up here in late April, actually, in late April.
As far as after graduation, I'm really not sure yet what I'm going to do. I'll probably look for a Graphic Design job, I still want to be around here, but … we'll see what the Lord has in store.
Tell us more about your show. Where is it? When is it?
It'll be up from April 26th through May 8th, in the gallery of the Fine Arts building. It'll be me and another student – we're doing the show together.
The reception for it will be that first Monday, April 26th, from 6:00-9:00 that night. There will be food there, and everyone can come out and see it. We'll both be selling our pieces. It'll be a good time.
You set the school record in the steeplechase, which is a unique event. Tell us about the particular demands of the steeplechase – it's a classic track and field event, but it very much stands alone.
(Laughs.) Sometimes I wonder who made up the steeplechase in the first place. I mean, someone had to say, “Let's come up with a distance event with barriers and a water pit.” I don't know who could've thought that up.
It's demanding because you've got to have a lot of strength for it. Sometimes I'm out there and I feel like I'm running so slow, but I can't go any faster because there's a barrier coming up that I have to worry about jumping over. And then there's the water pit.
But at the same time, it's really fun. It's the one distance event that a lot people enjoy watching because there's the water pit, and some people want to see who falls. It's kind of like NASCAR – people want to see the wreck. (Laughs again.)
It's fun at the same time, but it is demanding. You've got to train for it differently, with hurdle work and everything else to go with the distance running.
How did you wind up in the steeplechase? Did you seek it out, or was it, perhaps, suggested to you by a member of the coaching staff?
It was my freshman year in track. We were at Coastal Carolina for the spring break trip. We hadn't decided what we were going to do that week, event-wise, and one of my friends said, “Why don't we do the steeplechase?” So I said, “That sounds like fun” and we decided to get in it. We jumped a few barriers the day before just to see how it felt.
I remember it was awful – I felt so bad after that first race. But it's one of those events where you can improve so much throughout the season, even from the first time you do it.
I ran it once, and then I ran it 26 seconds faster the next time I did. There was constant improvement from the first time. You get better at hurdling and you get stronger throughout the season.
But that's how I started.
There aren't many seniors on the track team or the cross country team. You're a senior – were you asked to provide senior leadership, and is that a role you embraced? Have you been able to impart your wisdom?
I don't necessarily see myself as a leader or a team captain or anything like that. If someone comes to me with a question, I'll try to answer it, to “impart that wisdom,” like you said. But running is such an individual sport, and what works for some people won't work for others. I'll give my opinion but I know at the same time that it's something that works for me and might not work for someone else.
I'll go talk with the coaches more about stuff, maybe make some suggestions. I'm probably more comfortable talking with the coaches than some of the freshmen or the younger guys. But I don't see myself as the big “team captain” or anything like that.
What's your favorite athletic memory from your time here at Concord?
One memory? There are so many memories of here. As far as one event, I'd have to say it was setting the school record in the steeplechase this season. But, as far as my time here … I've had such a fun time here at Concord. I keep a journal, it's kind of weird to say, but I sometimes go back and read about some of the crazy stuff with all the guys – the trips, the practices, the friendships … it's a collaboration of all those memories. I'll never forget that stuff. I'm going to be sad to leave.
Everyone on the team … they're not just teammates, they're brothers and sisters. You work with them, you train with them … I'm never going to forget them and all the good times we had.
As you get close to graduating, do you find yourself going back to that journal more and more?
Definitely. Every day! I get more depressed every day! (Laughs.) There are people who say, “I can't wait for summer to get here, I can't wait for finals to be over,” and I feel like, “No, I want more classes! Maybe I'll fail on purpose so I can stay behind!” No, not like that, but I'd give anything to come back here and get some type of job around here so I could still help out with the team. That would be awesome. I'm not quite ready to grow up yet!
There's no hurry for that. But even if you don't get to stay around here and help with the team, would you like to stay involved with cross country and track and field in some capacity? You would like to still compete in some way? Would you like to be a coach someday?
I would love to continue to compete and run. A lot of people graduate and they go on to do marathons and things like that; I'm not sure I want to do that, but I'd like to still train for 5K's, the steeplechase, that kind of stuff. I know it'll be hard once I get a job, but I want to keep with it – I'll start packing on the pounds if I don't! (Laughs.)
Coaching, too – I've always said I'd love to coach high school, but we'll have to wait and see. I'd love to do something like that. I'd really like to continue to run – not just run, but run and train.
