VESTAL, N.Y. – The dream has been realized. Emily Mackay has officially qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team that will be competing in Paris later this summer.

Racing in the finals of the 1,500 at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday night at Hayward Field, the 2022 Binghamton alum was the runner-up with a time of 3:55.90. By finishing in the top three of the race, Mackay clinched her first-ever spot on a U.S. Olympic Team.

Nikki Hiltz won the race with a meet-record time of 3:55.33 while Mackay's New Balance Boston Teammate Elle St. Pierre was third 3:55.99. Coming into the meet, Mackay's lifetime-best performance in the event was 3:59.76.

"I'm super excited and it is all still sinking in," Mackay said afterwards. "I was not expecting the race to be that fast and there is a lot to process right now in becoming an Olympian and running a huge PR. I couldn't be happier."

The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26-August 11. The first round of the women's 1,500 takes place on August 6 at the Stade de France, which also hosted the 1998 Men's World Cup Soccer Finals.

"This race today gives me a lot of confidence heading into the Olympics," Mackay said. "My goal was to make the Olympic Team. I knew it was realistic but it was also going to be very hard. Now that I've made the team and ran the PR that I did, I will have to really do some rethinking on my goals for Paris."

Mackay is the most accomplished Binghamton University female student-athlete during its 24-year NCAA Division I era. She graduated as a five-time United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) All-American and won seven America East championships between cross country and track & field. She placed a program-best 14th overall at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships and was sixth overall in the 1,500 at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Mackay becomes the fifth Binghamton student-athlete to have qualified for the Olympic Games. She is preceded by John Moreau, Chris Coleman, Yun Qu and Hui-Jue Cai.

Moreau qualified in fencing for both the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as well as the 1988 Games in Seoul. In both 2008 and 2012, he was a judge for the modern pentathlon. Moreau will be making his fifth Olympic appearance – once again as a judge – at Paris. He was inducted into the Binghamton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Coleman was a five-time All-American sprinter on the Binghamton track & field team from 1986-89 but advanced to both the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Games in the bobsled events. He was an inaugural inductee into the Binghamton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.

Qu and Cai, meanwhile, competed for their native China in the swimming events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics prior to joining the Binghamton program. Qu was a 2002 All-American and was inducted into the Binghamton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

In the stands on Sunday evening at Hayward Field was Mackay's Binghamton coach Annette Acuff. She made the trip to the Olympic Trials to support Mackay and 2018 alum Eric Holt, who advanced to the semifinals of both the men's 800 and 1,500.

"What an incredible performance by Emily tonight," she said. "She executed to perfection. We couldn't be any prouder of both her and Eric at the Olympic Trials this weekend. To have played a part in their overall development has been so rewarding."