Nansemond River track and field standout Mia McClain recently signed her commitment to attend and compete for the Virginia Military Institute.

Knowing her academic and athletic performances commanded the respect of a Division I school, McClain said, “It means that all of my hard work paid off. I feel great.”

The achievement was the fulfillment of a dream she has had since starting the sport eight years ago, while in sixth grade.

“As soon as I started track, I had told myself that I wanted to be signed, because when you look at all the older kids, and they’re getting scholarships for college and stuff like that, that was always something I wanted to be me,” she said.

Her first experience in track came while she lived in California.

“My dad’s military, so we travel all the time,” she said.

McClain wants to get an education and go into the Navy as an officer, so she looked around for a school that would help her accomplish that.

“Then I found VMI,” she said. “So I told them that I was interested, and then I got a message right back saying they were interested, too.”

McClain’s mother, Racheal said, “As soon as she told me about VMI, we started checking it out, and we had to make sure that it had all the components that she needed.”

Those components included her desired major, civil engineering, a track and field program, in case she wanted to compete, small class sizes and the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

“They have everything at VMI, so it was a blessing that they responded to us after we reached out to them,” Racheal McClain said.

Nansemond River track coach Justin Byron was pleased when he heard McClain was signing with VMI.

“When an athlete is able to go where they want to go, as a coach, that makes you happy,” he said.

A challenge McClain and every student at VMI must go through for part of their first year at the school is being on the “Rat Line.” New cadets, referred to as “rats” during this period, are put through tough mental and physical training to prepare them for their next three years in the VMI Corps.

McClain said she is prepared for it.

“I think it’s nice for you to earn your place and earn all your privileges and stuff like that,” she said. “I think that’s great. And then it’ll help me stay organized.”

Though she said she already has the level of discipline required, “It’ll reinforce it to make it like an everyday life type of thing. The only thing that I need to start getting prepared (for) is being yelled at constantly. So, that’s going to be new.”

More familiar to her will be the track and field events for which VMI has her slated.

“They want me to do sprinting, like the 55, the 100, all that, and hurdles now, because I’ve started hurdles this year,” she said. “And I know for sure I’m doing long jump there.”

Coach Byron noted that VMI is in a competitive conference right now. Citing sprints, sprint relays, hurdles and the long jump, he said, “I feel like she’ll (make) an immediate impact.”

McClain already has goals set, including getting a three-year ROTC scholarship that would start next year and also breaking school records in track and field.

“I do want to go there and make a statement,” she said. “I want to graduate and them remember me for what I have done, so that’s my goal going in there.”