A Quick Chat With Kenneth Rooks On His 8:17 (Steeple) PR, Being The World Leader, XC Goals & More!

Featured Guest
May 22, 2023
5 min read

Interview conducted & transcribed by Donny Speas

Edited for clarity & cohesion by Garrett Zatlin

The Stride Report's Donny Speas was able to chat with BYU ace Kenneth Rooks who, at the time of publication, is the world leader in the steeplechase. Rooks is a two-time All-American who holds personal bests of 3:59 (mile), 7:55 (3k) and 8:17 (steeple). He is currently listed at TSR #4 in our top-25 outdoor track distance rankings and is currently favored to win the NCAA title in the steeplechase later this June alongside Montana State's Duncan Hamilton.

Thank you to Kenneth for taking the time to chat with us and answer a few of our questions!

Donny Speas: I'm just going to go straight into it! Are there any shoe companies or pro teams that have reached out to you [following your 8:17 steeple PR]? Or do you know if any have contacted your coach or something along those lines?

Kenneth Rooks: Yeah, nobody's reached out to me so far. I mean, I'm in my junior year of track here at BYU. I think that's probably is part of it. I really don't know. No one's reached out and talked to me about that.

Donny: Besides your 8:17 mark [in the steeplechase], what do you feel like was your most impressive race or most important race that gave you a bit of a clue that [running] 8:17 was possible?

Kenneth: Probably running last year in the NCAA final. I ran 8:22 which placed me 6th. It was a very deep field that day. I know I'm in better shape this year than I was last year. And so just going off of that, I thought like, "Okay, well, I know could probably run under 8:20 this year."

Donny: I noticed that you raced at the regional meet in cross country, but not the national meet. Did you guys plan that out, or was that just something that came up?

Kenneth: No, I was not in our top-seven. We had a really deep team this year. I mean, our seventh man was 54th or something like that at Cross Country Nationals, and that was just because he had a bad day.

We honestly had seven guys who were capable of being All-Americans, and one of the guys on our team who wasn't an All-American has been an All-American in cross before. I probably would have run at Nationals if I was on any other team in the NCAA to be honest with you. I mean, even if I was, I would have qualified individually as well.

Donny: So assuming more that you're coming back for your next couple of years in cross country, would you guys have any team goals? Because you return everyone except for Brandon Garnica, correct?

Kenneth: [We lose] Brandon Garnica and Christian Allen. That's right. We have a deep team, we're going to bring Casey [Clinger] back, Aidan [Troutner], Joey [Nokes], Creed and Davin Thompson. That's a good five. And then I'm coming back and we have a bunch of guys who have really stepped up and performed really well throughout the season, especially this track season, so we're excited to see who is able to show up and really run well next cross country season.

We're feeling really good about it, and I need to make sure that I step up and that I'm performing at a higher level in cross country to help us because we want to get a national title. That's what we're shooting for.

Donny: Speaking about training, how do you feel with your workouts? Is there any one session in particular that you feel like really got you ready for last week? Or getting you ready for Nationals in general?

Kenneth: Well, I think it's just a combination of things. Coach Eyestone has us do a lot of strength-type workouts, and I think those have really helped me get a good base. One of the workouts that we do in the steeplechase, though, is one that Coach Eyestone has done with the steeplechasers for a while, and he learned it from Chick Hislop at Weber State.

So you do a 1200, 800, 1200, 800, you jog a lap in between for your rest, and you just alternate laps going over barriers or not. That's the common steeplechase workout we do. But just everything in general has kind of built up to where I'm at now.

Donny: How does it feel to be able to say that you're a world leader [in the steeplechase]? Has it sunk in yet?

Kenneth: Yeah, it has sunk in. It's cool that I'm the world leader. I also know that it will not last. There's a lot of people who will run a lot faster than 8:17 later on this year. But it is cool that I can be able to say that I've run the fastest so far this year.

Donny: A lot of people more than likely will run faster than 8:17 at some point in the season. How many in the United States? Do you think you have a legit shot at making the USA team [for the upcoming World Championships]?

Kenneth: Well, I ran 8:17 [in the steeplechase] compared to other guys in the United States right now. If I were to run an 8:17 again at the USA Championships, that would probably give me a good shot at making the team.

It's hard to say because I know that a lot of the top steeplechasers like Hillary Bor or -- and I think there's Bernard Keter -- [the Sound Runinng Track Fest] was their first steeplechase race of the season and I was able to beat them. It gives me a lot of confidence that I can compete with them.

And I closed really well. When I ran 8:17, I closed in 59 seconds. So if I do that, if I replicate that performance, then I think I could make the World [Championship] team. But there are some other guys, so we'll see what happens. I know there's Duncan Hamilton. He's capable of running really fast as well and he was 4th at the USA Championships last year.

Donny: My next question kind of ties into Duncan. Are you kind of peaking for NCAA's? Or now that you know that you have a legit shot to make the USA team, have you changed your training a little bit? Are you just taking it one step at a time?

Kenneth: Yeah, I'm just taking it one step at a time. I don't need to worry about USAs right now. If I worry about that too much, then I won't be in the present. I need to stay in the present, and I know that the NCAA Championships, well, I have to make it through regionals without any bumps.

But, yeah, Nationals are going to be very competitive. Duncan will be very competitive. Parker Stokes was right behind him last year and Ed Trippas was ahead of me last year as well, and he's run fast in the past. So it's going to be a competitive race, and we'll see who else is able to show up and be in the mix as well.

And it's interesting. I don't know exactly what the training plan is going to look like yet. Me and Coach [Eyestone] haven't talked about it because the USA Championships are a full month after NCAA Championships, so we are going to peak for NCAAs and we'll figure it out from there.

Donny: Sticking with the theme of multiple championships, you have three teammates contesting the steeplechase at the regional meet. Have you guys discussed tactics or anything of the such? What is your plan? Knowing that Duncan [Hamilton] is in your region, are you going to go for the win? Help your teammates qualify for NCAAs? Or something else?

Kenneth: We haven’t talked much about strategy. For me, the most important thing to do is survive and advance, whether that means winning or getting 3rd. Like last year, I was 4th in my heat and just four of us came out of that heat and all four of us ended up being first-team All-Americans at Nationals. So yeah, just trying to survive and advance.