Kenneth Rooks
Kenneth Rooks, a Brigham Young University runner and NCAA steeplechase champ, surprised onlookers when he jumped up from a fall two minutes into the 3000-meter steeplechase final during the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships and crossed the finish line first with a time of 8:16:78. The time was also Rooks' fastest during his three-year steeplechase career, and the win was his first U.S. Outdoor national title.
“I was pretty close to [the runner] in front of me and he stuttered really hard and I almost ran into him — and then I ran into the barrier,” Rooks told NBC Sports afterward. “Everyone was running over top of me.”[1]
Rooks told himself to “go into Henry Marsh mode,” referring to the four-time Olympian and fellow Latter-day Saint, who preferred to run the steeplechase from the back in an effort to avoid such falls. Rooks decided that if he ever fell, he would work his way back to the pack gradually, which uses less energy than a burst of speed.
His coach Ed Eyestone “explained later, it was one thing to catch the leaders again after spotting them a four-second lead during the race; it was quite another to be able to summon a kick after such an effort. But that was exactly what Rooks did. He moved into second briefly on the final turn, then fell back to fourth place, but as the group came off the water jump he made another move that carried him into second place. In the homestretch he hurdled the final barrier and sprinted into the lead as the crowd, fully aware of what was happening, roared.”[2]
“The top three finishers in each event will represent the U.S. in the world championships in Budapest next month. No American steeplechaser has met the world championships qualifying mark of 8:15.00, but Eyestone said Rooks is a virtual lock to be accepted into the competition. ‘If not, we’ll find him a race and get a qualifying time,’ said the coach.”[3]
- What was Eyestone’s reaction when he saw Rooks fall? “Initially, honestly, I was thinking, well, he’s had a good season, and there’s the Olympic trials next year. I just knew at this level of competition, if you’ve fallen and you’re four or five seconds back, the odds of him making the world championships team went from 95 percent to 5 percent or less.
- “When he fell, I just slumped in my chair. I thought, well, let’s be patient and close the gap and beat some of these guys and maybe finish in the top 10. But each lap he got a little closer to the pack and then caught them.”
- Eyestone added with a laugh, “Two weeks ago, he fell over the same barrier in a workout and did a barrel roll. That was a higher power probably preparing him for the race.”[4]
Rooks competed against professional runners in this event.
Rooks, who is from Walla Walla, Washington, was a junior at BYU at the time of the race. He served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Uganda and Orem, Utah.
Rooks won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday, June 23, 2024, with a time of 8:21.92. James Corrigan, also a returned missionary and BYU sophomore, surprised many by finishing third in 8:26.78.
In addition to finishing in the top three, runners must meet a time standard established by World Athletics, track and field’s international governing body, or his place on the team would go to another American who either had the qualifying time or a place in the top 36 of the world rankings. Rooks’ ranking was 24th going into the trials. He’s now at 18th.[5]
Each country is allotted three spots. Rooks has a season-best time of 8:15.08, and is expected to make the Olympic team.[6] Corrigan achieved an Olympic qualifying time June 29 in a specially arranged, tailor-made 3,000-meter steeplechase race in Philadelphia, where he crossed the finish line with a time of 8:13.87, crushing the Olympic standard.[7]
