BYU track and field: Perry takes steeplechase title

Kyle Perry, a senior from BYU and a former Alta High School track star, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a rout in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday night at Fayetteville, Ark.

Following a pre-race plan that he and Coach Ed Eyestone agreed upon, Perry ran in the pack for 41/2 laps before running away from the field, turning each of the last three laps in 66 seconds.

"Kyle has put himself squarely in the hunt to make the (USA) World Championships team," said Eyestone. "He ran guys in the ground tonight, turned them into debris on the track. He had time to admire himself on the JumboTron."

Perry was never considered one of the favorites heading into the race. He had run only five steeplechase races in his life entering the NCAA meet, and he had won only one of them (not counting heats). But he ran a 4-second personal record while winning his semifinal heat on Wednesday, and on Friday he produced a 9-second personal record to win the final.

His time: 8:29.24. Hillary Bor of Iowa State was a distant second in 8:35.12.

The 6-foot-4 Perry, a 3:59 miler, has great sprint speed for a distance runner, but he wasn't taking any chances by relying on a late kick.

"The jumps in the steeplechase take away some of my kick, so I wanted to use my strength and make my move earlier," he said. "I looked at the video screen coming off the last jump and couldn't see anyone, so I checked my shoulder and I knew I had it then."

Perry thus becomes the second Alta High track athlete to win an NCAA title this year. Amy Menlove won the pentathlon in the NCAA indoor championships (a back injury forced her to withdraw from the heptathlon competition this week).

Perry was one of three Utah high school athletes to earn All-American honors Friday night. Ada Robinson, a freshman from Viewmont High, was fifth in the women's high jump with a personal-record leap of 6 feet. Bob Low, a senior from Timpview High, was third in the pole vault with a clearance of 17-101/2.

"We are all really excited for Ada," said BYU women's coach Craig Poole. "She was well prepared and did a great job of competing on a national stage.

"Ada has been getting better and better all year long, and it all came together today," Poole said. "It's exciting to know she will be in our program for a few more years. She is a very hard worker and will only get stronger."