Eugene runner qualifies for World Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase

When Kaylee Mitchell was a child, her dad, Jim Mitchell, used to set up obstacle courses for his three kids. He’d incorporate monkey bars and whatever else happened to be around. His children loved doing them and begged for more. 

“They’d tear them up,” he said.

Growing up in Salem, Kaylee Mitchell was an all-around athlete. She was on the basketball team at Sprague High School and played volleyball and soccer. She had plenty of hand-eye coordination, and — more important for her future running career — plenty of foot-eye coordination. 

So when Mitchell was running in college, first for Seattle Pacific University, then for Oregon State University, her coaches nudged her into the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She took to the event. 

The steeplechase requires endurance and coordination. Runners have to hurdle 28 fixed barriers on the track, along with seven water jumps. 

It seemed natural that Mitchell “started doing well at it,” her dad said. 

How well? 

Mitchell twice scored at the NCAA championships for OSU in the event, finishing sixth as a junior and seventh in 2023 as a senior.  

She finished fifth at the 2024 Olympic Trials, a few seconds away from earning a trip to last summer’s Games in Paris. 

On Saturday, Aug. 2, everything finally came together. 

At the U.S. Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, she finished third in 9:11.36, narrowly holding off the fast-closing, 2023 U.S. champion Krissy Gear. Lexy Halladay-Lowry won in 9:09.14. Angelina Napoleon, a junior at North Carolina State University, was second in 9:10.96.

With her third-place finish, Mitchell, 25, earns a spot on the U.S. team going to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. The meet in September will be the first time Mitchell represents the U.S. in international competition. 

Mitchell felt calm before the race. 

“I feel like I don’t normally go into races feeling very confident in myself and believing in myself,” she said. “I went into this one totally believing that I could make this team. I almost got emotional walking up here because I just knew it was my day. I’m so happy I was right.” 

Mitchell also had a home-track advantage. 

She lives in Eugene and trains with a branch of the Nike-sponsored Swoosh Track Club, coached by Jerry Schumacher, head track and field coach at the University of Oregon. 

While most of the athletes in town for the championships were staying at hotels or Airbnbs, Mitchell got to sleep in her own bed. 

“This is where we meet for practice every day,” she said. “So it’s definitely very comforting. It feels like a win on home turf.” 

Mitchell’s OSU coach, Louie Quintana, was there yelling for his former athlete. So were Jim Mitchell and his wife, Kristina, who gave their daughter a trackside hug after she made the team. 

The elder Mitchells had already booked flights and hotels for Tokyo. Yes, everything was refundable. But they’ve been ready for this moment, in some ways, since the beginning. 

“She was athletic even in utero,” Kristina Mitchell said. “I always joked that that kid, she came six weeks early, but she was a go-getter. The very moment I could possibly feel a baby move, she was right on top of that, and she’s been a mover and shaker ever since.”