Pat McClurg won the one-mile state championship of the 1924 Class B state track meet with a time of 4:45.12.

According to the 1925 Hiltop yearbook, "McClurg's faithful training of four years brought its reward during his senior year.  Pat's last year was 1000%; he was never defeated.  In Champaign at the State Meet–Illinois Interscholastic–McClurg brought in the orange and black colors 15 yards in front of his nearest competitors, winning the gold medal!"

His high school teammate, Robert Smith, actually led the first three laps of the race and earned a medal for fifth place.

In addition to winning the mile at state, McClurg also won the mile at the Eastern Illinois meet, county meet, and won the 880 at the county meet