Track and field: Babcock breezes through 1,600

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The first big performance of the afternoon came in the girls’ 1,600 meters where defending state champion Christine Babcock of Woodbridge easily won her heat in a time of 5 minutes 2.07 seconds.

Hillary Hayes of Edison actually posted a quicker time of 5:01.66, but the performance was more than enough to earn Babcock a ticket to next week’s divisional championships at Mt. San Antonio College.

Babcock is the Division II record holder in the 1,600 and 3,200 and has posted the state’s second-fastest times in each event this spring. Look for the defending Division II state cross-country champion to finish somewhere around the 4:40 mark next week.

I’ll try to get a word with Babcock after she runs the 3,200 later this afternoon.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Photo from Austin Knoblauch