O-R Athlete of the Week: Madison Clair, Canon-McMillan
Name: Madison Clair
Grade: Senior
School: Canon-McMillan
Sport: Basketball
Clair’s week: A couple of days had passed, but Clair said what she and her Canon-McMillan girls basketball teammates had accomplished still hadn’t sunk in.
Clair was a part of history scoring a game-high 15 points to help the Big Macs beat Norwin 50-38 Saturday to win the WPIAL Class 6A title, the first in school history.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Clair said. “I never thought we’d ever win a WPIAL championship. After the game it was still fresh and it probably won’t really hit me until the end of the season when everything is over. That’s probably when I’ll be able to look back on what I accomplished.”
Clair also had a team-best 15 points in Canon-McMillan’s 47-42 win against Seneca Valley in the semifinals last Tuesday.
Preparing for states: Canon-McMillan keeps adding to its list of new accomplishments. It’ll host a state playoff game for the first time. The Big Macs welcome Governor Mifflin of District 3 to Canonsburg on Friday for a 6 p.m. tip. Last year was the first time Canon-McMillan won a state playoff game in its history, winning at Allderdice. Now they can make it two seasons in a row with a PIAA win.
“We just want to keep this rolling and keep accomplishing things,” Clair said. “Our goal is to get as far as we can. To be first in the state is the goal, but to get second or third would not be anything to be ashamed of either.”
College bound: Clair will continue her career at West Virginia Wesleyan, which is an NCAA Division II school. She’ll be in the same conference as her good friend and current Big Macs teammate Lauren Borella, who’s headed to West Liberty. Even though they’ll be on opposite sides, they’ll still see each other plenty.
“We actually went to both games that West Liberty and West Virginia Wesleyan played against each other this year,” Clair said. “Our families our best friends, so I’ll see her a lot.”
The combination of basketball and the campus helped make her decision clear.
“I got in contact with them through my AAU team,” Clair said. “It’s a small school that will help me make a good connection with my professors compared to a larger class.”
Future lawyer: Clair plans to study law and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan and her goal is to become a business corporate lawyer. She’s been intrigued by the law for a long time and has even shadowed a lawyer recently.
“I’ve done career projects growing up and I always felt like being a lawyer fits my personality well,” Clair said. “I do like to argue and get my point across. For my senior project this year I went and shadowed a lawyer and I really enjoyed going to the court room and hearing the cases.”
It’s a different type of court, but Clair said basketball can be good practice for being a lawyer.
“I definitely plead cases to my coaches, but they usually just tell me to shut up,” Clair said with a laugh.
Compiled by Jerin Steele