Katie Mc Gregor - Post-collegiate/professional

Post-collegiate/professional

Following college, McGregor remained in Ann Arbor and continued training and competing under sponsorship from Adidas, transitioning from the shorter distance races to the 10000-meter run. In the spring of 2000, she achieved her first major post-collegiate victory, winning the 10000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational, setting a meet record with a time of 32:33.62. She competed in the event at the Olympic trials later that summer, but did not qualify to represent the U.S. team in Sydney, Australia. The following year, she moved to Minneapolis, and began training with Team Minnesota under sponsorship from Reebok.

Over the next few years, McGregor competed in variety of distance races, performing well, and continuing to improve upon her personal best times in several running events. Highlights during 2004 included a second-place finish at the U.S. Cross Country Championships (8000-meter distance), as well as personal bests in both the 5000-meter and 10000-meter runs prior to the Olympic Trials. At the Olympic Trials, she narrowly missed qualifying for the games in Athens, taking fourth place in the 10000-meter run. Despite finishing fourth, McGregor would have earned a spot on the Olympic team if she met the "A" standard of 31:45, but she finished with a time of 32:33.87. In regards to her performance she commented that "I was really angry, because I failed myself."

2005 saw her personal best times in all races continue to improve, culminating in a come-from-behind victory in the 10000-meter run at the U.S. Outdoor Championships in May. She competed in the event for the U.S. team at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland in August 2005, taking fourteenth place overall as the top U.S. finisher, with a personal best time of 31:21.20.