Kenneth Rooks crosses the end line to win the boys’s 3,000-meter steeplechase last in the course of the U.S. observe and subject championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023. Rooks, a junior at BYU, has a shiny future with the Cougars and past. Ashley Landis, Related Press
Kenneth Rooks crosses the end line to win the boys’s 3,000-meter steeplechase last in the course of the U.S. observe and subject championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023. Ashley Landis, Related Press
Second-place finisher Benard Keter congratulates winner Kenneth Rooks after the boys’s 3,000-meter steeplechase last in the course of the U.S. observe and subject championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023. Ashley Landis, Related Press
Whereas Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise spent the weekend pitching their big-budget Hollywood films, Kenneth Rooks, operating in a pair of $150 sneakers, stole the present. In a matter of minutes, he grew to become a life lesson of overcoming, enduring and ending.
“I suppose the Lord was searching for me and helped me put together. I had a plan in place that if I fell, I'd stand up and work my approach slowly to get again to the pack as a result of a fast burst of vitality afterwards to try to catch again up instantly may need burnt me out.” — BYU steeplechaser Kenneth Rooks
Film writers dream of such a script.
The BYU junior from Walla Walla, Washington, recovered from a fall to win the three,000-meter steeplechase on the USA Outside Observe and Discipline Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Rooks is the primary collegiate runner to win gold on the USA Championships in 32 years.
“Actually, I don’t know how one can describe it,” Rooks informed “BYU Sports activities Nation.” “I’m simply grateful for the help I've acquired.”
The autumn
Early into the 7.5-lap race, Rooks grew to become tousled within the crowded subject.
“The particular person in entrance of me stumbled and made it troublesome for me to get my bearings on the hurdle and I simply wasn’t capable of recover from it and I fell,” he stated. “Issues occur that you could’t management.”
Rooks tumbled to the bottom in the identical approach he fell throughout a coaching run two weeks prior.
“I suppose the Lord was searching for me and helped me put together,” he stated. “I had a plan in place that if I fell, I'd stand up and work my approach slowly to get again to the pack as a result of a fast burst of vitality afterwards to try to catch again up instantly may need burnt me out.”
Rooks began his comeback needing to catch all 13 runners forward of him and eclipse the four-second cushion held by the chief.
“To have the ability to have the presence of thoughts to remain current in that second was actually particular,” he stated. “Once I first went down, I used to be simply considering, ‘Oh crap! I suppose that is the place we're proper now. Is my race finished?’ Then I received again up and determined to maintain going and see how many individuals I can catch.”
In true Hollywood vogue, Rooks caught all of them.
The restoration
For the subsequent jiffy, the 5-foot-10 reigning NCAA champion channeled his interior Rocky Balboa, Maximus and Superman — conquering every competitor like a gladiator, one by one, and organising a stretch run for the ages.
Kenneth Rooks crosses the end line to win the boys’s 3,000-meter steeplechase last in the course of the U.S. observe and subject championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.
Ashley Landis, Related Press
“I did lots higher than I used to be anticipating,” he stated. “That final 150 meters once I was driving to the end, I feel my mouth was vast open. Partially as a result of I used to be attempting to get some air, however partially as a result of I used to be like, ‘Holy cow! I’m really profitable this factor! How is that this taking place?”
It occurred.
Even with the spill, Rooks clocked a personal-best 8:16.78 and received the race by lower than half a second.
“I feel I do know what I’ve finished. After the race, all people was telling me congratulations and the way impressed they have been and what sort of life classes they will train,” he stated. “I had observe coaches come as much as me and say, ‘I’m going to point out my athletes video of this race.’”
The historic run earns its place among the many biggest single athletic achievements in BYU historical past and is worthy of Hollywood’s cinematic consideration. That’s what they do with true tales of exceptional finishes that nobody noticed coming — not even Rooks.
“I’m nonetheless amazed that I had the presence of thoughts to work my approach out of it.”
Henry Marsh
Former Cougar Henry Marsh is hailed as among the many finest steeplechasers in American historical past. He received the nationwide title at BYU in 1978 and ran in three Olympics. Within the second Rooks collided with the observe, Marsh’s legacy flashed throughout his thoughts.
“I didn’t take into consideration this beforehand, however once I first fell, Henry’s identify got here into my thoughts instantly,” Rooks stated. “He used to exit behind the pack at first of races and slowly transfer his approach up. He would run at his personal tempo and inside himself. That got here into my thoughts too, that I wanted to run like Henry Marsh.”
Consequently, BYU has two steeplechase nationwide champions, separated by 45 years.
What’s subsequent?
The victory has Rooks coaching for subsequent month’s World Observe and Discipline Championships in Budapest earlier than he returns to BYU to compete within the Large 12.
“Proper now, I plan to come back again and run cross-country within the fall after which we’ll construct up for the Olympic trials subsequent 12 months,” he stated. “I've a very good shot contemplating I received this 12 months.”
There isn’t an gold Oscar statue for Rooks dramatic efficiency, however he did get a gold medal and an excellent glimpse at his potential on the worldwide stage.
Second-place finisher Benard Keter congratulates winner Kenneth Rooks after the boys’s 3,000-meter steeplechase last in the course of the U.S. observe and subject championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.
Ashley Landis, Related Press