Rooks, Mantz honored on CoSIDA Academic All-District® Team

PROVO, Utah — Kenneth Rooks and Conner Mantz represented BYU among those athletes recognized on Thursday with the announcement of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country 2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams®.

The annual honor roll, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, celebrates the best in student-athlete excellence on the track and in the classroom. CoSIDA opens the award to all athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II, III and NAIA.

All-District honorees now advance to the All-American ballot. Men’s and Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country CoSIDA Academic All-America® Teams will be announced in June.

Rooks, an academic junior, has maintained a 3.96 GPA as a civil engineering major while impressing in his first season back from full-time missionary service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kampala, Uganda and Orem, Utah.

The Walla Walla, Washington native clocked a steeplechase time of 8:31.19 at the Oregon Twilight on May 6; good for No. 3 all-time at BYU and No. 4 among Division I men nationally. This followed Rooks’ helping the BYU indoor men’s distance relay team to an MPSF Championship on Feb. 18 and his recognition on the MPSF Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team on April 20.

As a true freshman in 2019, Rooks was named a Second Team All-American after finishing 11th in the steeplechase at nationals.

Rooks will seek to return to nationals as he competes in the 2022 men’s steeplechase quarterfinals at the NCAA West Preliminary in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Friday at 5:40 p.m.

Mantz, now a two-time All-District honoree, graduated from BYU in April 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. The Smithfield, Utah native held a 3.76 GPA during his prolific BYU career. The Sky View High School product repeated as Division I Men’s Cross Country National Champion in November 2021. Mantz recorded top-10 finishes in each of his 22-career collegiate cross country meets, including 13 meet wins and nine straight to finish his time as a Cougar. Mantz also became the first BYU runner to win three individual conference championships.

Between indoor and outdoor track and field, Mantz was named an All-American six times 2018-2021. Following the conclusion of his BYU career in Nov. 2021, Mantz signed a professional contract with Nike Running and continues to compete with his sights set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.