Merrillville’s Erika McClinton Joins Sister Nakel as only Sister Duo to Be Named MHS Female Athlete of the Year

Merrillville’s Erika McClinton Joins Sister Nakel as only Sister Duo to Be Named MHS Female Athlete of the Year

Erika McClinton made her mark on Merrillville High School. McClinton, a three-sport athlete, recently earned the high distinction of 2016 Merrillville Female Athlete of the Year.

McClinton’s face graces a wall right outside of the Pirate’s Cove. Another picture hangs right above hers, a photograph of someone very special to her.

Her older sister, Nakel.

The duo is the only pair of sisters to both win Female Athlete of the Year at Merrillville. Erika played varsity soccer, basketball and tennis during her four years as a Pirate. She will be attending Arizona State University in the fall, but will not be participating in varsity athletics. Nakel participated in soccer and track and field before graduating in 2012. She is now a redshirt senior at Indiana University and is a hammer thrower on the track and field team.

“When they announced my name at the spring sports banquet, I felt honored,” Erika said. “They listed all of my accomplishments over my four years, and I felt like I did something big.”

Erika does not hesitate when prompted to give her favorite Merrillville moment.

“When we beat Lake Central’s basketball team in the Regional Championship my junior year, that was the best day of my life,” she said. “Nobody had confidence in us, so we had to have confidence in ourselves.”

You can hear the pride in Nakel’s voice when she speaks about her younger sister.

“I don’t think we could be any closer,” she said. “She is more outgoing than I am, but we are pretty much best friends.”

After visiting Arizona State only once, Erika says she fell in love with being a Sun Devil. She leaves The Region with a heavy heart, but she does admit that she will be happier without cold weather.

“I’m going to miss Merrillville for sure,” she said. “It was hard to balance everything here, but I now know that it was all worth it.”