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The one-time American collegiate record holder in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase is now a national champion.
BYU junior Kenneth Rooks triumphed in the steeplechase Friday night, holding off Montana State's Duncan Hamilton with a facility-record time of 8 minutes, 26.17 seconds to cap the Cougars' finish in the 2023 NCAA outdoor track and field championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. Victor Kibiego of UTEP finished third in 8:32.49.
The Cougars harrier never trailed in the final lap, clinching All-American first-team status for the third time in his career on the same day that Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma smashed a 19-year world record with a 7:52.11 in the steeplechase at a Diamond League meet in Paris.
"I didn't watch the end of that race, but that's insane," Rooks told ESPN after the race. "But 7:52? 63-flat? That's insane."
Rooks' final collegiate race of the season was pretty good, too.
He got out to a strong start, keeping up with the pacesetters in the first of eight water jumps before holding his spot in the middle of the pack for most of the race. The native of Walla Walla, Washington, pulled into the top three ahead of the final lap, reeling in Hamilton's lead in front of him and surpassing him as the final bell rang to alert the last lap.
"In the race plan going in, I felt like I would be favorable in a fast or a slow race," Rooks said. "I just wanted to stick myself in the middle, close to the front, be patient and be ready when people started to push — a mile or a K. With 600 to go, I got lots of speed and I was just going for it."
In 1985, Coach Eyestone won a National Championship in Austin.
— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) June 10, 2023
37 years later, Kenneth Rooks does the same! pic.twitter.com/eksZNEJG9P
Rooks is the fourth men's steeplechase national champion from BYU in program history, and the first since Kyle Perry in 2009. And he did it in the same spot where 37 years earlier, BYU coach Ed Eyestone won individual championships in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Rooks made history look easy, becoming the Cougars' first individual male champion in four years (since Clayton Young's 10,000-meter title in 2019) while adding a second-consecutive steeplechase championship in as many seasons to pair with Courtney Wayment's women's steeplechase championship in 2022.
That makes BYU the first program in NCAA Division I history to win men's and women's steeplechase championships in back-to-back seasons.
Just two years removed from a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kampala, Uganda, and Orem, Utah, Rooks broke the American collegiate record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase earlier this year, becoming the second-fastest collegiate runner in the event all-time and breaking a school record set by four-time Olympian Henry Marsh 46 years ago.
A few weeks later, Hamilton one-upped Rooks, posting an 8:16.23 finish in the NCAA's West regional. That set the stage for Friday night's colossal clash.
"I got really excited to race against (Hamilton) here at nationals," Rooks said of the rival. "He's really good, and today was my day. Maybe he would've got me on another day. But it got me more excited than anything to race against him."
Three of the Cougars' last five individual men's championships have come in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
BYU finished 10th with 22.5 points to conclude the men's track and field season. Florida won the men's team title by 4 points over Arkansas (53). Stanford (44), LSU (43) and Arizona State (41) rounded out the top five.
Dallin Shurts added first-team All-American honors in the discus, finishing seventh with a throw of 201 feet, 0 inches. He's the first BYU discus thrower to capture first-team All-American honors since Leif Arrhenius in 2011.
"He had the best warmups of his life today, so I knew he was in shape and doing well," BYU assistant throws coach Nik Arrhenius said in a statement. "I was hoping he would be able to get a farther throw, but to take seven inches is extremely tough. I'm very happy for him and glad we could add another discus All-American here at BYU."
Casey Clinger was the only other BYU men's track and field athlete to compete Friday, when he finished 11th in the 5,000 meter final in 14:12.54. The American Fork product added second-team All-American honors to his podium finish in Wednesday's 10,000-meter final.
Southern Utah junior Astley Davis finished eighth in the triple jump, resetting his school-record mark with a final leap of 16.17 meters (53-3/4). The University of Mary transfer previously set the SUU school record at the Western Athletic Conference outdoor track and field championships when he leaped 52' 10.75" in May.
The NCAA outdoor track and field championships conclude Saturday with the women's final, including BYU's Lexy Halladay-Lowry in the steeplechase, Cierra Tidwell Allphin in the high jump, and Claire Seymour and Meghan Hunter both competing in the 800-meter final at 8:14 p.m. MDT on ESPN2.
Utah Valley's Everlyn Kemboi and Utah's Emily Venters, who finished 1-2 in the 10,000-meter final Thursday, will try to win another title along with Utah's Simone Plourde in the 5,000 meter at 8:55 p.m. MDT.
