Track Fest — Swift Rooks Steeple Opener

EAGLE ROCK, CALIFORNIA, May 24 — A near return-to-form by steepler Kenneth Rooks, a pair of 5000s that smashed or approached national records, and another step on the comeback path for Olympic 800 gold medalist Athing Mu-Nikolayev were among the highlights at Saturday’s Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles.

After a handful of modest performances on the flat indoors, Rooks made his outdoor debut a fast one, clocking a U.S.-leading 8:14.05, clear by 6 seconds of Duncan Hamilton’s 8:20.28. The mark dipped under the World Championship qualifying standard of 8:15.00 and is the second-fastest in the BYU grad’s career, trailing only his Olympic silver medal-winning performance in Paris last summer.

It also continues his string of great runs in the Track Fest. In ‘23, Rooks crushed a breakout 14-second PR 8:17.62 en route to his first NCAA title season. Last year, he repeated in another career best 8:15.08, that stood as his PR until the Games.

“It’s so fun to be back doing the steeplechase. I love it so much,” Rooks said. His fastest lap was his penultimate one (62.91), thanks in part to a “rocky” final water jump. “I’ve done workouts, but you can’t ever simulate the last two laps in the steeple perfectly, so it was good to feel that today… good to get an opener underneath the standard, which is awesome.”

Both 5000s featured furious finishes with winners that blasted past the World Championship-qualifying pace lights they were chasing in the preceding laps. In the men’s race, Mexico’s Eduardo Hererra was just behind Australian Ky Robinson with two laps left (11:01.20–11:01.95) — having moved strongly from the chase pack a lap earlier. Then he surged ahead to go for the 13:01.00 qualifier. After a 59.25 that edged him slightly closer, the Colorado alum roared to a 57.37 finish that not only surpassed the standard with room to spare, but also took down the outdoor Mexican record of 13:07.79 that national legend and 10,000 WR-setter Arturo Barrios had set way back in ’89.

The 27-year-old Herrera, whose previous PR was his 13:06.36 indoors in Boston, had broken his country’s 1500 national record with a 3:36.31 in this meet last year (a mark he would surpass twice more in ‘24). He was clearly overwhelmed with profound joy and triumph after Saturday’s…