McCluskey was one of four individuals and four relay teams selected for inclusion on the Wall of Fame. Of the individuals, he joined former 100-meter world record-holder Leroy Burrell (Penn Wood High), former Villanova star John Marshall, and four-time women's discus champion Pat Walsh of Tennessee.
 
McCluskey, who later ran for the New York Athletic Club, was a rare three-time record setter in a single event at the Penn Relays, winning the collegiate steeplechase in every one of his varsity years. He is one of only three three-time winners in the steeplechase event at the prestigious competition, as Tennessee's Ricky Pittman (1982-83, '85) and Abilene's Nicodemus Naimadu (2005-07) have since matched the feat.
 
On each occasion, McCluskey set a new meet record in the steeplechase, with the first two races also establishing the national collegiate records in 1931 (9:37.0) and 1932 (9:28.6). In each of those years, he went on to capture the 2-mile indoor and outdoor IC4A Championship.
Later in 1932, he competed for the United States in the Olympics, earning a bronze medal, and set the world record in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
 
In 1933, McCluskey set the final record at 9:28.5, which would last four years, until Indiana's Tom Deckard broke that mark in 1937. Since he first broke the record, McCluskey shaved over 29 seconds off the previous record holder's mark.
 
McCluskey, who also competed in the 1936 Olympics, finishing 10th in the steeplechase, was a 1973 inductee into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame and a 1996 inductee into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame.