The question: Are you athletic? And the task: jumping over a hurdle, neither of which Grace Gibbons was prepared for, were the first two steps in building one of the greatest steeplers in Iowa State women’s track and field history.

It was no question Gibbons was athletic — she was a four-time Iowa high school state champion.

Still, she didn’t know how to answer her coaches, Andrea Grove-McDonough and Matt Valeriani, when they asked her the question a little more than a year ago.

“I hope so. I hope I have a little athleticism in me,” Gibbons told them.

As for the hurdles, Gibbons’ coaches might as well have asked one of the sprinters on the team to run the 10,000.

“I was just bad at it,” Gibbons said. “I had never gone over a hurdle before in my life, not even in high school track, so I just kind of hopped over it, like no hurdle form whatsoever. But then I tried it a few more times and got a little bit better each time.”

If the hurdle was a barrier, the 3,000-meter steeplechase was a brick wall.

With 28 hurdles and seven water jumps in the typical 3,000-meter steeplechase, the race appears more like something from ABC’s former game show “Wipeout” than a track and field event.

Regardless, Gibbons had known since before she arrived at Iowa State that she wanted to become a steepler.

“I saw it at the Drake Relays a few times in high school and I always thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I could be kind of good at that,’ and my dad always wanted me to try it, so I had my eye on the event,” Gibbons said.

While it is known for its epic fails and water spills, Gibbons has managed to mold the steeplechase into a success story.

She has also avoided the same mistake her teammate, Kelly Naumann, who owns the third-best steeplechase time in Iowa State history, made when she looked up videos of the event.

“Everyone sees the steeple fails on the internet,” Naumann said a little more than a year ago when she was first being introduced to the event. “They don’t see the good ones. I’ve been trying to look up videos for steeple all year, and the only ones you can find are when people fall in the last water pit.”

Gibbons’ first crack at the steeplechase was a success. She finished third in the event at the Jim Duncan Invitational on April 15, 2016, and continued to improve throughout the remainder of the season, setting personal records at the Musco Twilight and Big 12 Championship.

Heading into the 2017 outdoor season, Grove-McDonough said she was most looking forward to seeing the steeplers compete, more than Jasmine Staebler, who had just finished sixth at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, and more than the top five distance runners who led the Cyclones to the Big 12 Championship during the cross-country season.

“I’d really like to see those steeplechasers, Grace Gibbons and Kelly Naumann, because they’re really good at it and we’re excited about it,” Grove-McDonough said toward the end of March. “We think those are good events for us to add. We’re kind of looking forward to seeing them get out there because it’s been a year, so that’s probably what I’m most looking forward to.”

Gibbons and Naumann haven’t disappointed. In their season opener at the Stanford Invitational, Gibbons ran a personal record in the steeplechase, 10 minutes and 23.19 seconds, which ranks second in school history. Naumann’s 10:24.17 time was also a personal record and ranks third in the Iowa State record book. 

The two will have an opportunity to improve those times Saturday when they compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Drake Relays.