Meet Alex McKay: CS student and Maryland LAX player

Computer science seems to come just as easy to Alex as lacrosse does. Although she replaced multiple names on her high school’s track records and guided the soccer team to a county championship, she always felt lacrosse just clicked for her. Her feelings about lacrosse are similar towards the introductory computer programming class she took to fulfill her high school’s technology requirement. Alex was named a Rising Star in Computer Science for superior academic achievement, and her success was not contained to the classroom. She also led Marriotts Ridge High School lacrosse team to state and regional championships, made the Under Armour All-American team, and was pinned to the Baltimore Metro team. The list goes on.

After joining her middle school’s lacrosse team, because well, “that’s what all [her] friends were doing,” she quickly mastered the defensive positioning and demanding stick skills she needed to excel as a defender. Alex had been competing in soccer since her legs could hold her up, but in retrospect, she “would just kind of run around as fast as [she] could all over the field and make [herself] exhausted, but with lacrosse it just always seemed to make sense.” She won games with a smile on her face and anyone who knows Alex could have told you she had a beaming collegiate future ahead of her.

Soon, college scouts were in her E-mail, her mailbox, and her ears. She became acquainted with the coaching staff and style of play that Maryland had to offer, and decided to decommit from Chapel Hill and take her brains and lacrosse stick to the Terps. She realized that the perfect college for her not only had to challenge her in lacrosse, but academically as well. She says, '[F]rom a computer science standpoint Maryland felt like the better place for me. It was the perfect fit.”

Unfortunately, Alex suffered from a torn ACL on the second day of preseason last year. However, the injury proved to be a blessing in disguise. An ACL tear requires surgery and extensive physical therapy, so Alex opted to “redshirt,” which means she would sit out the season and start her four years of college lacrosse as a sophomore. With her athletic career mapped out, she sought to confide in her academic advisor about how she would spend the extra year at Maryland. Together they figured that with the impressive number of AP credits she acquired in high school, Alex was on track to complete the five year MS/BS Computer Science program that the department has offered since 2008. With the support of her two biggest fans (her parents) and her team, she made the time off as productive as possible. “[The injury] made my stick skills better because I couldn’t run for a long time. My dad is a doctor so he was really there during rehab. He checked in everyday and made sure I was doing what I had to do.”

Alex and her team have their schedules loaded with practices, lift sessions, and classes. Having graduated only one starting senior and welcoming a talented group of freshmen, Alex thinks things will go well.  "This year’s team is particularly deep and can run people into the ground," she says.  Nike Lacrosse Magazine recently listed UMD Women's Lacrosse number one in the preseason rankings, but the team is too focused to let a huge honor trip them up from their ultimate goal. They have their sights set on repeating last year’s success, that is, winning the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship.

Alex’s work ethic undoubtedly extends itself from the lacrosse field. She is in the Honors College, minoring in Spanish, and has taken three eighteen credit semesters. You could say she knows a thing or two about balancing work and play. “A lot of other classes you can get away with procrastinating, but computer science isn’t like that. It is all about how you manage your time and if you love what you do, you find a way to do it.” Alex may not have enough free time to be a part of Greek life or join a club, but she is incredibly grateful for her experience as a student athlete at Maryland so far and wouldn’t trade her lacrosse family for anything in the world.

--Kelly Bilodeau '17