On Saturday, Chris Giesting was inducted into the Indiana Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame.
Giesting, a 2011 Batesville High School grad, finished his high school career with a 400m IHSAA State Championship(47.33) after placing third in 2010. He attended Notre Dame, and along with Patrick Feeney (New Palestine), they rewrote the ND record book. He held the ND record 400m indoor record (45.74) and 400m outdoor record (45.53). He was a 7-time NCAA All-American and 2016 Olympic Trials qualifier.
In his first year at Notre Dame, he won his first national title at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning the college’s first-ever distance medley relay title alongside Johnathan Shawel, Randall Babb, and Jeremy Rae. He also completed a sprint double at the Big East Conference Championships, winning both the 200m and 400m dash.
At the 2013 Big East Indoor Championships, he placed in the top three of the 200m, 400m, and 4 × 400 m relay events. He then placed eighth in the 400m at the NCAA Indoors. He narrowly missed out on retaining his Big East Outdoor double, winning the 400 m, but being runner-up over 200 m. In his third year, he was an NCAA Outdoor finalist in both the 400 m individual and relay events. At the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships, he took fifth in the 400 m and helped Notre Dame to the sprint relay title. In regionals, he was the 400m winner and 200m runner-up at the Atlantic Coast Conference before reaching the finals of both events outdoors. In respect of his achievements as a student-athlete, he was named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Giesting ended his career with an indoor 200 m best of 21.02 seconds to take his fifth indoor school record. He competed at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Management Entrepreneurship for the Mendoza College of Business at ND in 2015.
In his first international call-up, he represented the United States on home turf in Portland, Oregon, taking the gold medal at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Running in a team with Kyle Clemons, Calvin Smith Jr., and Vernon Norwood, they ran the third fastest time ever in the history of the indoor 4 × 400 m relay at 3:02.45.
In 2017, Giesting joined the Hoka New Jersey-New York Track Club under the coaching guidance of Frank Gagliano to move up to the 800m. He would run 1:46.49 in his first year competing at the outdoor distance. In 2018, he was a member of the World Indoor Record Team, setting the 4x800m with a time of 7:11.30.
Chris received his Executive MBA, Internal Business from the University of South Carolina in 2022.
Giesting is retired from running now. Chris and his wife, Jade, currently reside in Cayce, South Carolina.
Story provided by Terry Giesting.