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Kenneth Rooks crosses the finish line to win the men's 3000 meter steeplechase final during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Ashley Landis, AP Photo

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Kenneth Rooks celebrates after winning the men's 3000 meter steeplechase final during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Ashley Landis, AP Photo

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Kenneth Rooks reacts after crossing the finish line to win the men's 3000 meter steeplechase final during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Ashley Landis, AP Photo

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Kenneth Rooks crosses the finish line to win the men's 3000 meter steeplechase final during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Ashley Landis, AP Photo

❮ ❯

As far as homages go, it was one of the better ones in BYU track history.

And what an amazing moment it was commemorating.

Cougar senior runner Kenneth Rooks was going up against the best professional and amateur steeplechase athletes in the country on Saturday in 3,000-meter steeplechase finals the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

On just the third lap, however, disaster struck.

“I was pretty close to Anthony (Rotich) in front of me and he stuttered really hard (going into a hurdle),” Rooks told NBC Sports after the race. “I almost ran into him but then I ran into the barrier. I couldn’t get my steps to get over. I fell down and everyone was running over top of me.”

While it certainly wasn’t the situation Rooks wanted to be in, he said he had already thought about the possibility.

“It was a scenario I went through in my head,” Rooks told NBC Sports. “What would I do if I fell? If I did, I knew I had to get up and work my way back slowly. As I got up, I told myself that I had to go into Henry Marsh mode. He ran from the back.”

He was referencing former BYU track star Henry Marsh, who fell with 200 meters left in his semifinal heat in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, only to get up, sprint to the finish and still make it to the finals.

Rooks, however, had more time to make up ground and by the time the race was heading into the final lap, he was sitting in good position in fourth and was only a few strides behind the leaders.

As the athletes made their way down the back stretch and over the last water jump, Rooks turned on the afterburners.

He was in second and fighting for the lead going into the final hurdle, then passed Bernard Keter to cross the finish line first — raising his arms in triumph as he did so — and win the title.

“If I got up close to the pack and I was feeling good, we’d see what happens,” Rooks told NBC Sports.

His time of 8:16.78 was a personal best for Rooks (breaking his own BYU record of 8:17.62), although it was just shy of the world-championship-qualifying time of 8:15. Keter was second with a time of 8:17.19.

The win is another triumph in a phenomenal season for the Cougar athlete from Walla Walla, Wash., who won the 2023 NCAA steeplechase title earlier in the summer.

He is a four-time All-American (three times a First Team honoree) also was part of the school-record distance medley relay team.

While Rooks was able to emerge victorious in his race, former BYU superstar Courtney Wayment came up just short in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Wayment — wasn’t able to keep up with Krissy Greer (9:12.81) or Emma Coburn (9:13.60), being forced to settle for third with a finishing time of 9:14.63.

Cougar junior Lexy Halladay finished eighth in the race with a time of 9:31.39.

Other BYU athletes to compete at the USATF Outdoor Championships included Dallin Shurts (fifth in the discus), Clarissa Seymour (17th in the 800-meters) and Cierra Tidwell (no height in the high jump).

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