Fort Myers' Krissy Gear wins national steeplechase title, heading to Worlds in Hungary

Krissy Gear was a championship runner at Fort Myers High School and a standout running collegiately for Furman and Arkansas.

So it should be no surprise that she continues to lead the pack as a professional.

Gear, who runs for HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, can now be called a national champion as she chased down 10-time national steeplechase champion Emma Coburn to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Championships in Eugene, Oregon Saturday night.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Gear of passing Coburn. “I definitely had like a hiccup moment where I was kind of like, I felt really bad and didn’t want to do it. Because it’s like Emma ... Coburn. You know, it's like, I want to see Emma win. I was like a fangirl, but I also want to win. She gets it racing, she's not going to take it personal.”

Gear, 23, ran a personal best by almost 11 seconds in 9:12.81 and passed Coburn after jumping over the final hurdle. Coburn finished in 9:13.60.

"With the amazing women in the field I knew the time was going to come with the race so I kept trying to avoid looking at the clock," Gear said. "I knew if I did it would get into my head and so I was like, make sure you are in the right position and the time will come. And I'm very thankful I stayed true to the process."

With the win, Gear qualified for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary next month. She will be joined by Coburn and third-place finisher Courtney Wayment, who Gear passed at the start of the final lap.

Gear started steeplechase in college

Gear started running the event as a freshman at Furman.

With her high school successes coming in flat races like the 800, and 1,600 meters, Gear was set to continue in those events. She had success during the indoor season as she was named Southern Conference Indoor Freshman of the Year.

Furman assistant coach Rita Gary moved Gear to the steeple before the outdoor season. Gear turned in a regional-qualifying time of 10:12.72 early before a few rough races midway through the season. The highlight of her season came during regionals in Tampa where she recorded a school-record 9:52.71 to qualify for nationals in Eugene, Oregon.

Her performance qualified her to represent the United States in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final at the International Association of Athletics Federations World U20 Championships in Finland where she finished 10th.

She finished 15th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a time of 10:15.07 as a sophomore.

After transferring to Arkansas for her junior year, she helped the Razorbacks win the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track title by taking fifth in the 1500 and was a leg on the Arkansas NCAA champion women's distance medley relay team. She placed fourth in the 1500 at the 2022 NCAA outdoor championships.

She won the 2021 SEC steeplechase title with a meet record of 9:38.62, also breaking the school record mark of 9:41.28 qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, placing 16th in prelim with a 9:47.59.

She also ran the anchor leg of the Arkansas 4x1500 relay at the 2022 Penn Relays that obliterated the collegiate and meet record with a 16:53.87.

Arkansas career highlights:

• Four-time All-America | Cross Country (1), Indoor (2), Outdoor (1)

• 2021 SEC Outdoor Champion | Steeplechase (meet, school record)

• 2021 SEC Indoor Silver | Mile

• 2021 SEC Indoor Silver | Distance medley relay

• 2020 SEC Indoor Champion | Distance medley relay

• 2020 SEC Indoor Silver | Mile

• School record | Indoor Mile (4:31.83)

• Qualified for Olympics Trials in 1,500m & Steeplechase

Back to the Steeplechase

According to an article in Runners World, after Gear joined Northern Arizona Elite in Flagstaff, she told her coaches, Alan Culpepper and Jenna Wrieden, that she might want to try the steeple again.

From a technical standpoint, “She’s just beautiful,” Culpepper said, as he and Wrieden sat on a curb outside of Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, eating a late dinner of Qdoba and waiting for Gear to get through drug testing. “As soon as she even mentioned the steeple we were both like, ‘Absolutely.’ She’s just so athletic," Culpepper told the magazine. "We saw her go over the hurdles a few times and we were like, ‘Wow.’”

The NAZ Elite coaching staff told Runner's World they had no doubt she was good enough to reach the world championships.

“We were hoping it was just fast enough to eliminate other people,” Culpepper said. told the magazine. “But not too fast to where she wouldn’t be able to use her strong kick. It honestly played out really great for her. You could see with like a [kilometer] to go it started feeling really hard for her. Once she gets to 500 to go, she’s great.”

One of Southwest Florida's best

One of the most decorated track and field female athletes in Lee County history, Gear was a six-time individual state champion for the Green Wave, winning three consecutive 1600-meter crowns (2015-17), two straight in the 3200 (2016-17) and an 800 title (2017). She also finished second in the Class 3A cross-country championships in 2015.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Krissy Gear chases down Emma Coburn to win 2023 national steeplechase title