Casey Kear enters his third season as UC Irvine's distance coach after joining the Anteater staff in August 2019.
In his first year with the 'Eaters, Kear coached Hannah Chau to All-Big West honors in cross country as she took fifth at the conference meet. Earlier in the season, Chau also ran the fourth-fastest 6K in program history at 20:44.5.
On the men's side, Kear saw six of his seven student-athletes establish an 8000-meter personal record. He also led Christian Hernandez and Sebastian Bautista to 10K lifetime bests at the NCAA West Regional.
During the 2020 women's indoor track & field campaign, four of Kear's distance runners established five marks that rank among UCI's all-time top-10. The subsequent 2020 outdoor track & field and cross country seasons were then canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year on the track, Kear continued to mentor Chau, who won the 2021 Big West individual title in the 10,000-meter run. Chau crossed the finish line in a personal-record 34:53.13, which was the third-fastest winning time in Big West Championship history. She became the Anteaters’ first conference champion in the 10K since 2002, and moved up to fourth on UCI’s all-time charts.
In the classroom, both the men's and women's cross country squads were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams in 2019 and 2020. They also combined for six Big West Fall All-Academic honors in 2019.
Prior to his arrival at UCI, Kear spent two seasons as the assistant distance coach at Long Beach State. During his time at the Beach, he mentored a Big West Men's Freshman of the Year and two all-conference performers in cross country. On the track, he coached the 2019 Big West steeplechase champion. LBSU also won the Big West team title in men's and women's track & field during his tenure.
Kear was previously a volunteer assistant at Nebraska. While on the staff from 2014-17, he helped the Huskers to three Big Ten track & field championships. The distance group had six NCAA West Regional qualifiers and combined for 14 performances that landed on the program's all-time top-10 list.
Kear also served as an assistant coach at Point Loma Nazarene (2013), and as the head girls' cross country/assistant track & field coach at San Juan Hills High School (2011-13).
Kear had a standout collegiate career himself as he was a three-time NAIA national qualifier in the 3000m steeplechase at Point Loma. He was also a two-time Golden State Athletic Conference champion, winning the steeplechase in 2010 and the 4x800 relay in 2008.
Kear graduated from Point Loma with a bachelor's degree in biblical studies in 2010, and went on to earn his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University (Irvine) in 2013.
