Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Dunn Makes Immediate Impact to the Track and Field Program
3/27/2022 12:00:00 PM | Track and Field, Les Johns
Chrissy Dunn made an immediate impact once picking Wake Forest and arriving on campus to compete, winning the ACC Outdoor Championship in the 800m and then earning All-American status in the same event as a freshman in 1994.
Chrissy (Person) Dunn knew she wanted to get away from her small Pennsylvania hometown when she left for college, and was introduced to Wake Forest by a high school track teammate who considered the Deacs but eventually decided on Bucknell.
"First time I heard about Wake Forest was from a high school teammate of mine," Dunn said. "I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. She was a senior when I was a freshman. I remember her talking about a school she was interested in and mentioned Wake Forest, I just liked the name. She ended up going to Bucknell, which is just 30 minutes from where we grew up."
"As I got into my junior and senior year where I started looking at schools and where I wanted to be, my coach was really good about helping her athletes get in touch with the schools they are interested in."
Together with her high school track coach, they made contact with the Wake Forest staff and set up a recruiting visit.
"We reached out to the coach and then went on a visit. It was either late winter or early spring," Dunn said. "I had just got my wisdom teeth out and my mouth was still swollen. I was really nervous about meeting people with swollen cheeks. There were several recruits that weekend, so there was a lot of bonding."
"I think I knew I wanted to go far away from home. Growing up in a small town, I was ready for something different and something warmer. I was excited about moving further south."
She made an immediate impact once picking Wake Forest and arriving on campus to compete, winning the ACC Outdoor Championship in the 800m and then earning All-American status in the same event as a freshman in 1994.
"I had my best race in terms of placement my freshman year," Dunn said. "The 800m was my distance both in high school and in college. As we started the track season my freshman season at Wake Forest, the ACC championship was in Raleigh and I essentially dropped five seconds and ran a 2:07. That was a shock to me, my coach and my teammates."
"I called my high school coach on the spot and wanted to share with her. That was the prelims, so I had to do it again in the finals."
Dunn was on campus five years, having one redshirt season because of injury, ultimately graduating in 1998.
"It's a big change, essentially living on your own and having all that freedom," she said about her time at Wake Forest. "I was grateful to have the team. Wake Forest is a small school. We were really close with the men's team. For all of our meets, we would basically travel together."
The 800m, which is half a mile, was the event in which Dunn specialized throughout her career.
"We all believed we were distance runners too, and that's what you did to prepare for spring track," she said. "We went to last-chance meets. School would be over, but the NCAA championships weren't until the end of May or the start of June. So if we had a chance to qualify, we'd stay after the semester, train and go to these last-chance meets. We were just trying to improve our time and hopefully qualify for nationals."
It was the time with teammates and life experiences shared on trips that really stand out to Dunn more than two decades later.
"My freshman year I qualified and it was in Boise, Idaho," she recalled. "I felt like that's where I came away with the best memories. We went horseback riding in Idaho. My dad and brother came out. It was the experiences — our coaches were really good at making trips feeling special."
She's now in her 17th year as an ESL teacher, currently in the Cobb County Schools System in Georgia. Her 16-year old daughter, Charlotte, runs the 800s for her high school team. Charlotte was sixth in the Georgia state meet, running a 2:17. Dunn joins her daughter on runs from time-to-time.
"I still run for exercise," she said. "It's like therapy and they're all easy runs."
"First time I heard about Wake Forest was from a high school teammate of mine," Dunn said. "I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. She was a senior when I was a freshman. I remember her talking about a school she was interested in and mentioned Wake Forest, I just liked the name. She ended up going to Bucknell, which is just 30 minutes from where we grew up."
"As I got into my junior and senior year where I started looking at schools and where I wanted to be, my coach was really good about helping her athletes get in touch with the schools they are interested in."
Together with her high school track coach, they made contact with the Wake Forest staff and set up a recruiting visit.
"We reached out to the coach and then went on a visit. It was either late winter or early spring," Dunn said. "I had just got my wisdom teeth out and my mouth was still swollen. I was really nervous about meeting people with swollen cheeks. There were several recruits that weekend, so there was a lot of bonding."
"I think I knew I wanted to go far away from home. Growing up in a small town, I was ready for something different and something warmer. I was excited about moving further south."
She made an immediate impact once picking Wake Forest and arriving on campus to compete, winning the ACC Outdoor Championship in the 800m and then earning All-American status in the same event as a freshman in 1994.
"I had my best race in terms of placement my freshman year," Dunn said. "The 800m was my distance both in high school and in college. As we started the track season my freshman season at Wake Forest, the ACC championship was in Raleigh and I essentially dropped five seconds and ran a 2:07. That was a shock to me, my coach and my teammates."
"I called my high school coach on the spot and wanted to share with her. That was the prelims, so I had to do it again in the finals."
Dunn was on campus five years, having one redshirt season because of injury, ultimately graduating in 1998.
"It's a big change, essentially living on your own and having all that freedom," she said about her time at Wake Forest. "I was grateful to have the team. Wake Forest is a small school. We were really close with the men's team. For all of our meets, we would basically travel together."
The 800m, which is half a mile, was the event in which Dunn specialized throughout her career.
"We all believed we were distance runners too, and that's what you did to prepare for spring track," she said. "We went to last-chance meets. School would be over, but the NCAA championships weren't until the end of May or the start of June. So if we had a chance to qualify, we'd stay after the semester, train and go to these last-chance meets. We were just trying to improve our time and hopefully qualify for nationals."
It was the time with teammates and life experiences shared on trips that really stand out to Dunn more than two decades later.
"My freshman year I qualified and it was in Boise, Idaho," she recalled. "I felt like that's where I came away with the best memories. We went horseback riding in Idaho. My dad and brother came out. It was the experiences — our coaches were really good at making trips feeling special."
She's now in her 17th year as an ESL teacher, currently in the Cobb County Schools System in Georgia. Her 16-year old daughter, Charlotte, runs the 800s for her high school team. Charlotte was sixth in the Georgia state meet, running a 2:17. Dunn joins her daughter on runs from time-to-time.
"I still run for exercise," she said. "It's like therapy and they're all easy runs."
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