She would end her first NCAA cross country season finishing ninth at the ACC Championships and eleventh at the South Regional.

During the 2016 cross country season, Carmela would improve her position at the ACC Championships and South Regional placing seventh and third respectively.

A month later at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational, she would run a 15:38.77 5000 m personal best in the 5000 m. She qualified for nationals in both events but chose to just contest the 10000 m at the championship.

In Austin, at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she would place second, to New Mexico's Weini Kelati.

[5] After her win at the 2021 NCAA Championships, Cardama Báez turned professional, joining the On Athletics Club based in Boulder, Colorado and coached by Dathan Ritzenhein.

[6] On 21 December 2021, Cardama Báez competed in the senior race at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, finishing eighth.