NEW YORK, N.Y. – Former Binghamton Bearcat All-American Emily Mackay secured her first outdoor United States Track & Field (USATF) Outdoor National Championship this past weekend.

On Sunday afternoon at Icahn Stadium, the Binghamton alum captured the women's USATF Outdoor 5,000 title. The victory capped a stellar weekend for Mackay, who also finished a close third in the women's 1,500 on Saturday afternoon.

For much of the women's 5,000 race on Sunday, Mackay hung with the lead pack, which eventually dwindled down to her and Shelby Houlihan heading into the final lap. The two runners were neck-and-neck until Mackay out kicked Houlihan in the final straightaway. Her time was a season-best 14:55.82 while Houlihan finished in 14:57.88.

For Mackay, it marked her second career USATF championship. Back on Feb. 28, she was first in the 3,000 at the national indoor meet. Mackay then went on to earn the silver medal in the 3,000 at the World Championships on March 21 in Torun, Poland.
 

What a double ??

Emily Mackay followed yesterday’s 1500m bronze by claiming the @pttiming women’s 5000m title in 14:55.82 for her first outdoor championship ??#TeamUSATF | #USATFOutdoors pic.twitter.com/FvzVWwWnia

— USATF (@usatf) July 26, 2026

Just a day earlier, Mackay came up just short in the 1,500 finals. In that race, Mackay, Nikki Hiltz and Addy Wiley broke away from the field with 400 meters to go. The three runners crossed the finish line within milliseconds of each other. In the end, however, Hiltz got the win with a time of 4:06.92 followed by Wiley (4:06.96) and Mackay (4:06.98).

On Sunday afternoon in the 5,000, however, Mackay was upright as she broke the tape and threw her arms in the air in celebration. She then was presented with the gold medal and ushered towards a post-race interview with NBC.

"Today was a little bit of a redemption tour after yesterday," she said. "I'm super proud of how I raced yesterday but it wasn't the outcome I wanted. It definitely lit a bigger fire under me and I was so excited to come back and have another shot at a US title. It means so much to me. I have been working on my kick and it paid off today."
 
Mackay finished as a five-time All-American at Binghamton in 2022 and still owns three America East records.
 
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