Steeple People: Kirkpatrick, Rooks Make An All-Time Splash

Colin Kirkpatrick and Kenneth Rooks took full advantage of the opportunity to be in a fast field on Saturday night at the Sound Running Track Fest.

Kirkpatrick and Rooks, both competing in the steeplechase in Walnut, California, stormed their way into the record books once they crossed the finish line 3000 meters, 28 fixed barriers and seven water jumps later.

BYU’s Rooks won the race in 8:17.62, a time that rates him No. 2 all-time collegiately behind only the hand-timed 8:05.4 collegiate record set by Henry Rono Washington State in 1978.

Rooks won by three full seconds over former Northern Arizona star Geordie Beamish (8:20.62) in lowering his PR by nearly five seconds from the 8:22.56 he set last year.

In the same race, Pomona-Pitzer’s Kirkpatrick set the NCAA Division III record of 8:41.92, bettering the 8:43.78 of Peter Kosgei of Hamilton in 2008.