[5] He joined Alexei Kiliakov and Elena Novak at the Wheaton Ice Dance Academy at age six.

McNamara/Carpenter won their first international medals during the 2013–14 JGP series, taking silver in Riga, Latvia and then gold in Minsk, Belarus.

[9] Third in both segments, they finished second overall to Russia's Anna Yanovskaya / Sergey Mozgov by a margin of 9.09 points and ahead of Ukraine's Oleksandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin by 0.82.

In December 2015, they were awarded gold at the 2015–16 JGP Final,[10] outscoring silver medalists Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd by over eight points.

[11] In their final season on the junior level, McNamara/Carpenter won gold in both of their 2016-17 JGP assignments in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Competing in what would be their final Junior World Championships, they placed seventh in the short dance after receiving only a Level 1 on their step sequence.

Reflecting on the transition to the senior ranks, Carpenter remarked "we knew we didn't have anything to lose, so we threw out our very best.

"[14] In their second senior season, McNamara/Carpenter began by repeating as champions at Lake Placid Ice Dance International.

After winning the silver medal at their first Challenger, the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy, they placed fourth at the 2018 Skate America, narrowly missing the podium behind Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro after coming third in the free dance.

[17] Beginning the season again at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, McNamara/Carpenter won the bronze medal.

[20] This proved to be their final competitive appearance, as Carpenter announced his retirement from ice dance on April 16, 2020.