# Christine Babcock

Christine Babcock (born 19 May 1990) is an American former long-distance runner. She is an Oiselle professional athlete and competed in the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon as a high school athlete. She set two national high school records at the distances of 1500 and 1600 meters respectively. Running for the Washington Huskies track and field program, she was a two-time All-American collegiate athlete. She represented the United States internationally at the 2015 Pan American Cross Country Cup, where she won the team gold medal.

## Early life and education

Babcock was born in Laguna Hills, California. Her parents met at a running club and her mother, Kelly Babcock, competed in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Christine is the middle of three daughters.
Christine attended Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California. She graduated at the University of Washington in 2013.

## Athletic career
### High school

Babcock's first major victory in track and field came by winning the girls' 2006 outdoor 1600 meter CIF California State Meet title in 4:41.29 (with a margin of over 1 second) as a sophomore.
During the following cross country season, she won the CIF Division II State Championships by 13 second with a time of 17:20. In the spring she won her second straight 1600 meter state title in 4:38.85, a new California Interscholastic Federation Record at the time.
In her senior year, Babcock again won the State cross country Division II title, this time in the fastest time of the meet, 17:04. In 2008 track, she won her third straight CIF state meet by 16 seconds in the 1600 meters, was a national high school record of 4:33.82 until 2014 when Alexa Efraimson ran faster at the Washington State meet. Additionally, she won the Mt. SAC Relays 1500 meter race in 4:16.42, at the time a national record. This allowed her to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Trials. Her record would later be broken by Jordan Hasay at the 2008 US Olympic trials in a time of 4:14.50.

### College

In the 2008 cross country season, Babcock led the University of Washington to the program's first NCAA championship. She was the first finisher for the Huskies, at seventh place overall, with a time of 20:02. In track, she set a personal best time of 4:15.10 in the 1500 meters at the NCAA National Championship preliminaries. She later went on to finish 11th in the finals.
2009 led to another All-American performance in cross country, with Babcock finishing 34th nationally. Her team finished 3rd nationally. She also placed fifth in the Pac-10 Conference championships.
In January 2010 Babcock stopped running due to an injury in her right foot. Her athletic hiatus lasted seven months. She then missed the 2011 season due to an Achilles tendon injury.
On November 30, 2011, she was named the "Pac-12 Scholar Athlete Of The Year" with a 3.93 grade point average.
| Year | Competition | Place | Event |
| 2008 | U.S. Olympic Trials | 18th | 1500m |
| 2008 | Pac-10 XC | 3rd | (3rd UW) |
| 2008 | NCAA Regional XC | 3rd | (1st UW) |
| 2008 | NCAA XC | 7th | (1st UW) (All-America) |
| 2009 | MPSF TF | 2nd | Mile |
| 2009 | MPSF TF | 1st | DMR (MPSF Champion) |
| 2009 | NCAA Indoors | 8th | DMR (All-America) |
| 2009 | Pac-10 TF | 3rd | 800m |
| 2009 | NCAA Regional TF | 7th | 1500m |
| 2009 | NCAA Outdoors | 11th | 1500m |
| 2009 | Pac-10 XC | 5th | (3rd UW) |
| 2009 | NCAA Regional XC | 10th | (5th UW) |
| 2009 | NCAA XC | 34th | (4th UW) (All-America) |
| 2010 | Pac-10 XC | 19th | (5th UW) |
| 2010 | Regional XC | 19th | (3rd UW) |
| 2010 | NCAA XC | 114th | (4th UW) |
| 2011 | Pac-12 XC | 12th | (2nd UW) |
| 2011 | Regional XC | 14th | (5th UW) |
| 2011 | NCAA XC | 62nd | (3rd UW) |
| 2012 | MPSF TF | 8th | 3000m |
| 2012 | Pac-12 TF | 7th | 5000m |
| 2012 | NCAA Prelims TF | 14th | 1500m |
| 2013 | MPSF TF | 3rd | 3000m |
| 2013 | MPSF TF | 1st | DMR (MPSF Champion) |
| 2013 | NCAA Indoors | 13th | Mile (All-America Second Team) |
| 2013 | Pac-12 TF | 11th | 1500m |
| 2013 | NCAA Prelims TF | 7th | 5000m |
| 2013 | NCAA Outdoors | 11th | 5000m (All-America Second Team) |
| 2013 | USA Outdoor Champs | 11th | 5000m |

### Professional

Beginning in 2013, Babcock was sponsored by Oiselle and trained under coach Lauren Fleshman in Bend, Oregon. She is now retired from professional running and is working in the medical field.
2015 Boulder USA Cross Country Championships Christine Babcock placed 13th.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| 2015 | USA Cross Country Senior | Flatirons Golf Course, Boulder, Colorado | 13th | 8000 m | 29:06 |
| 2015 | Pan American Cross Country | Avenida al Río Golf Course, Barranquilla, Colombia | 9th | 7000 m | 22:03 |

## Personal life

Babcock is a Christian.

## Performance at select events

| Competition | Result | Time | Distance | Location | Date |
| 2006 CIF State Championships | 1st | 4:41.29 | 1600 m | Cerritos | 2006–6–3 |
| 2006 CIF State Championships | 1st | 17:20 | 5000 m | Fresno | 2006-11-25 |
| 2007 CIF State Championships | 1st | 4:38.85 | 1600 m | Sacramento | 2007–6–2 |
| 2007 CIF State Championships | 1st | 17:04 | 5000 m | Fresno | 2007-11-24 |
| 2008 CIF State Championships | 1st | 4:33.82 NR | 1600 m | Cerritos | 2008–5–31 |
| Mt. SAC High Performance Challenge | 1st | 4:16.42 | 1500 m | Walnut | 2008–6–15 |

## Personal bests

| Distance | Mark | Date | Location |
| 800 m | 2:06.55 | 2009-04-11 | Tempe, Arizona |
| 1,500 m | 4:16.10 | 2009-05-23 | NCAA prelims |
| 1,600 m | 4:33.82 | 2008-05-31 | Cerritos, California |