CEE Student Continues Family Running Tradition

photo by Michael Pimentel

Maclise's paternal grandfather and great-grandfather - Deming Sr. and Deming II - ran for the Golden Bears in the first half of the 20th century. Deming Sr. even qualified for the Olympics but didn't participate because he couldn't afford the since-eliminated entry fee.

"At first, I didn't have a good impression of Cal," Maclise said. "My dad (Deming III) really wanted me to come here. I got in, but I hadn't run anywhere near the Division I level until my senior season in high school. My dad sat down with (Cal) coach (Tony) Sandoval and pleaded with him to get me to come here."

After overcoming the initial uncertainty, Maclise enjoyed a remarkable four years in Berkeley. As a senior in the fall of 2004, Maclise led the Bears at the Pac-10 cross country meet by placing 40th - 26 spots higher than her junior year finish in the league race. Additionally, she owns the school record in the indoor mile (4:50.22).

The product of Davis, Calif., also prospered in the classroom, garnering multiple Pac-10 All-Academic honors, an Oscar Geballe postgraduate scholarship and membership in Chi Epsilon - a national civil engineering honors society.

Maclise excelled in math from a young age, but didn't feel it was a practical college major. Her mother's suggestion to major in engineering spurred Maclise to apply to the top engineering schools in the country.

Her focus was civil engineering, but Maclise didn't discover her true passion until she took her first structures class as a junior.

"It just clicked," Maclise said. "I got the highest score on my first two midterms and an A+ in the class. I actually thought I failed the first test because I freaked out. When the teacher handed me back the test, I thought he was going to tell me that I shouldn't even think about being an engineer."

Fortunately for the modest Maclise, she is well on track to becoming an engineer. Last summer, she made practical use of her education as an intern for a water resources firm in the Sacramento area, where she attended client meetings, visited job sites and performed structural design work.

With her bachelor's degree in hand, Maclise plans to remain at Cal to earn her master's in structural engineering and then work for 5-6 years in the field before obtaining a Ph.D.

Like running, teaching is a family tradition.

"My mom is a reading specialist and my dad used to be a teacher," Maclise said. "I want to remain on the forefront of academia and work with kids. I used to follow my mom to work and helped some of her students. I like that environment and the interaction."