College Place grad pulls off miracle comeback finish at USA Track Championships
Best thing I saw this past weekend?
Had to be College Place grad Kenneth Rooks pulling off an incredible victory at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., in the 3,000 meter men’s steeplechase.
Rooks, who currently competes for Brigham Young University, was the NCAA Division I champion in the steeplechase last month in Austin.
Now, going up against some veterans and professionals, Rooks wasn’t the favorite going into the USA championships.
And it didn’t look good when he stumbled and fell over a barrier with six laps to go.
The runner in front of Rooks had stutter-stepped before the barrier, and Rooks had to pull up or run him over. It looked like Rooks came up too quickly on the barrier, and his legs hit it and he flipped over it.
The field ran over him, leaving him in the dust.
But Rooks is a champion. I’ve seen him twice during his high school years win the state high school cross country championships for his classification at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
He’s had plenty of success in his college career so far at BYU, with another year of eligibility coming this fall.
But what he did next defies logic.
Rooks gathered himself up and ran hard. It didn’t take long for him to reconnect with the pack, and then he went about picking off runner after runner.
By the final lap, he had himself among the lead foursome, and his final leap over the water pit was almost perfect.
That allowed him to get past two of the three competitors, and his water pit jump gave him momentum to effortlessly hurdle over the final barrier down the stretch, giving him the lead for good and the victory.
His time of 8 minutes and 16.78 seconds gave him the first-place medal and a berth on the USA team that travels to Budapest next month for the World Championships.
▪ There were a few other area athletes who shined at the Eugene meet.
Pasco High grad Marisa Howard placed fifth in the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase, finishing with a time of 9:22.73.
Walla Walla High School graduate Dash Sirmon, who just completed his first season at the University of Nebraska, won the men’s U-20 javelin title.
Sirmon, on his third toss, won with a throw of 232 feet, 6 inches.
Finally, Richland High grad Natalie Ruzauskas — who competes collegiately at Eastern Washington University — was one of five competitors in the U-20 women’s 3000 steeplechase.
Ruzauskas finished fourth.
Golf
Kennewick’s Therese Warner qualified for the United States Women’s Open golf tournament, which ran this past weekend at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
Warner, a Southridge High School graduate, got in by placing second in a U.S. Open Qualifier on June 7 at The Club at Admirals Cove in Jupiter, Fla., where she shot a two-round total of 138.
There were 2,107 entrants trying to qualify for the Open in various tournaments this spring.
Warner finished with a two-round total of 155 — 11 over par — and missed the cut at Pebble Beach.
Warner has been playing on the LPGA’s support tour, the Epson Tour, this year. She has made five of the last six cuts, and placed tied for second in one event this season.
The Epson Tour will have a tournament once again in Pendleton this season, the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic, on Aug. 18-20.
▪ Pullman’s Christian Yanagi went 72-63-67 for a 202 total to easily win the Washington State Men’s Amateur golf tournament June 29 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla.
Yanagi’s total was an astounding 14 under par.
Two area golfers finished among the top 20: Othello’s Patrick Azevedo, who plays for the University of Wyoming men’s team, tied for 10th at 72-73-69–214 (-2); and former State Am champion Zach Bixler of Richland tied for 19th with a 74-69-73–216 for even par.
Signings
It’s been a pretty big year for Columbia Basin College sports, as almost every Hawks squad advanced to at least the final four in their sport. And one, the men’s soccer team, won the NWAC title.
But an even bigger gauge of success is how many CBC athletes have earned scholarships to four-year colleges. It can be a great advertisement for high school athletes who might not previously consider going to a community college.
This year, the CBC number of athletes moving on to four-year schools is up to 37 (and counting).
Leading the way is the Hawks baseball team, with 14 players going on.
Evan Bayless is headed to Pacific, Ore.; Dylan Berry signed with Cumberland University; Jaxon Henderson will play for Northwest Nazarene; Harper Huang is set to play for Arkansas Tech; Chris Mehren is headed to Emmanuel University; Steven Meier is signed up Old Dominion; Sebastian Munoz will be at Cumberland University; Ethan Petty will play for Jamestown University in North Dakota; Brooks Rasmussen is at Metro State; Josh Rufner is headed to Newman University; Cameron Soliz will pitch at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Brady Toth and Jace Wessels are headed to Bellevue University in Nebraska; and Landon Webb has hooked up with Lewis-Clark State.
CBC’s men’s basketball team is sending three players on to four-year schools: Christian Cross and Malakai Munoz are headed to Hannibal-LaGrange; while Teagan Hoard is set with Cal State San Marcos.
Two CBC women’s basketball players have signed with four-year schools: Makenna Brandner at College of Idaho; and Emma Maxwell with Whitworth.
Four players from the men’s soccer team have new homes: Jakob Avila and Johnny Ramirez with Northwest Nazarene; Raymundo Curiel with Evergreen State; and Raymundo Mendez with Seattle Pacific.
The women’s soccer team has three players moving on: Ana Andrade and Charly Scherbarth with Northwest University in Kirkland; and Alexis Olivas at Warner Pacific.
CBC’s softball team has seven players moving on: Mary Comack is headed to Providence University in Montana; Macao Jackson and Madi Olson are going to Eastern Oregon; Keena Kay, Ashlynn Nixon and Maya Torrez will play at the College of Idaho; and Harley Raymond will be at Willamette University.
And the CBC volleyball team will move four players onto the four-year level: Grace Morby to Ottawa University in Arizona; Lucendy Perez to Evergreen State; Hokulani Sagapolu to Benedictine in Arizona; and Josephine Thompson to Whitworth University.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
