Juniors McDonald had a strong junior career, skipping teams to win both the 1996 and 1999 Manitoba Junior Curling Championships. She would represent Manitoba in both of those years at the
Canadian Junior Curling Championships. At the
1996 Canadian Juniors, her team which included
Ainsley Holowec,
Shea Westcott and
Raunora Westcott finished with a 5–7 record at the Canadian Juniors. At the
1999 Canadian Juniors, her team was made up of
Reagan Wilkie,
Charmaine Forese and
Kyla Denisuik. McDonald led her team to a 7–5 record at the 1999 Juniors, which was not good enough to make the playoffs.
2004–2010 After juniors, McDonald graduated to a women's curling career. She won her first
World Curling Tour event as a skip at the 2004
East St. Paul Cash Spiel. She lost back-to-back
Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts as a skip in 2005 and 2006. She would be a semi-finalist at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tournaments as well. McDonald was asked to be the alternate for Team Manitoba (skipped by
Barb Spencer) at the
2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
2010–2014 In 2010, McDonald joined the
Chelsea Carey rink at third. The team would find immediate success in the
2010–11 season, winning the
2010 Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic, McDonald's first (and to date, only) Grand Slam championship. The team made it to the finals of the
2011 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts that year, but lost to
Cathy Overton-Clapham. The following season, they lost in the finals again, losing to
Jennifer Jones at the
2012 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts. As a member of the Carey rink, McDonald won the 2011
DEKALB Superspiel, the 2012
Victoria Curling Classic Invitational and the
2012 Red Deer Curling Classic. The team also lost in the finals of the
2011 Canada Cup of Curling. The team qualified for the
2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, where they finished fourth, after losing to
Sherry Middaugh in a tie-breaker match. After losing in four Manitoba finals in her career, McDonald finally won her first provincial title at the
2014 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts later in the season. At the Scotties, the team finished the round robin with a 9–2 round robin record, qualifying for the 1 vs. 2 game against Team Canada, skipped by
Rachel Homan. The team lost the 1 vs. 2 game and the semifinal before rebounding in the bronze medal game, defeating Saskatchewan's
Stefanie Lawton to take home the bronze medal. In the weeks following the Scotties, the Carey team announced they would disband, effective immediately. McDonald announced she would return to skipping a team, backed by
Kate Cameron at third,
Leslie Wilson at second and
Raunora Westcott at lead.
2014–2016 In her first World Curling Tour event with her new team, McDonald won the 2014
Mother Club Fall Curling Classic. She would play in four
Grand Slam events in her first season as skip, making it to the quarterfinals at the
2014 Colonial Square Ladies Classic. The team made it to the playoffs at the
2015 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, losing in the 3 vs. 4 game to the
Barb Spencer rink. The next season, her rink found more success in the Slams, making it to the playoffs in three of the four events they played in, including making it to the semifinals of the
2015 Masters. The McDonald rink also played in the
2015 Canada Cup of Curling, where they would finish with a 1-5 record. The team would find more success at the
2016 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, making it all the way to the finals before losing to
Kerri Einarson. On February 21, 2016, McDonald announced she would be retiring from curling, with
Michelle Englot taking over her team as skip.
2021–present On April 25, 2021, it was announced that McDonald would return to curling after her five year retirement, skipping her own team consisting of
Lisa Blixhavn,
Leslie Wilson-Westcott,
Raunora Westcott and
Lindsay Warkentin. ==Personal life==