Eastern Washington University Athletics

McKay made three appearances in the NCAA Championships in the early 1990's -- two in cross country and one in track. She earned All-America honors in the 10,000 meters on the track as a senior in 1992 when she placed fourth with a 34:56.38 time. Her time of 33:46.1 earlier that season was a school record and the third-fastest in Big Sky Conference history. She placed 33rd nationally in cross country in 1991, missing All-America honors by two places (the top 25 finishers excluding foreign athletes). The year before she was 69th. She scored 26 points single-handedly in three events at the 1992 Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, with wins in the 3,000 and 5,000 to earn Track Athlete of the Meet honors. At the Big Sky Cross Country Championships, she placed fourth as a junior and second as a senior. In her career she won six invitational cross country races. She broke five school records, including all indoor and outdoor records in the 3,000 meters and above and a Big Sky Indoor Championships record in the 5,000 (16:35.08). She was selected as the NCAA Woman of the Year for the State of Washington in 1992, and that same year she was named to the Big Sky Conference Women's All-Decade Team in cross country. A 3.60 student at Eastern, she earned her bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation in 1992. She was named to the Big Sky All-Academic team six out of a possible six quarters at Eastern. She went on to become one of the Pacific Northwest's premier road runners. She won the Portland Marathon in October 1998, and placed 46th in the marathon at the 2004 Olympic Trials. She also appeared in the Olympic Trials for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Her best marathon time was 2:45:55 at the 1998 Portland Marathon. For six-straight years from 1999-2004, she was the top female finisher from Spokane in the prestigious Lilac Bloomsday race in Spokane. At Bloomsday in 2004, she was 23rd among all females and was third from the State of Washington with a time of 45:44. In 2003 she was second among competitors from the State of Washington and 22nd overall among females with a time of 44:57. The year prior she was also second among Washington runners and was 14th overall with a time of 43:41. Her best effort at Bloomsday came in 1997 with a time of 41:32 when she placed 69th overall and fifth among women. McKay graduated from Almira High School where she was not only a track standout, but scored 1,798 points in basketball from 1983-87. She also competed two seasons in track and cross country for Community Colleges of Spokane. As part of the celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Big Sky Conference for women in the 2013-14 school year, she was selected as No. 20 on the list of the league’s 25 Greatest Women’s Athletes.