As reading week wound to a close, UW’s own Owen Babcock was completing his final few workouts before his 600 metre, 4×2, and 4×4 races at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships hosted at the University of Windsor.
Babcock moved to the Waterloo region when he was just five and has lived here ever since. He is no stranger to track meets, as running was always something he was drawn toward. While he initially started off in soccer, he eventually found the price tag for the sport too cumbersome to justify continuing at a higher level. Once high school started, he made the switch to track and field and began his soon-to-be illustrious career with the Laurel Creek Track Club.
Once the time for university applications came around, Waterloo became the obvious choice, as Babcock preferred to stay close to home. UW’s co-op program and abundance of successful track athletes (like Naomi Lance and Mohamed “Mo” Yassin) were also both factors that ultimately made it easy to decide to come here for his undergrad in environmental science and return for his master’s in chemistry.
“Owen has a clear love for the sport,” said Shane Ferth, one of his co-head coaches. Ferth detailed Babcock’s first meeting with the track team as a rookie and his enthusiasm to start practice right away. “The rookies don’t start practice right away, but he was like, ‘First practice!’…he was just ready to go from day one.”
Ferth, along with his co-head coach and wife, Kate Bickle-Ferth, both prepare Babcock year-round for his competitions, with specific training taking place in September and the base program working out to about six days a week spent doing speed work, endurance, top speed work, and weight training. When asked to comment on the rigorousness of such a program and how they ensure injury-free athletes, they mentioned that they prioritize health above all else and often tell their athletes not to push themselves too hard. “Life isn’t just while you’re competing here,” Ferth said. “It continues on after.”
High-level track meets often require that athletes meet a standard to move on to the next bracket or even bypass qualifying rounds. In an event like 400 metre hurdles, that could mean running a time below 53 seconds. To put that into perspective, an average reasonably fit male could expect to run 400 metres in 90 seconds.
Prior to the OUAs, Owen had competed in both the 400 metre hurdles and 4×400 metre mixed relays at the Athletics Championships, taking home the bronze and gold respectively. At the OUAs, Babcock placed third in the 600 metre, while his had a tough fight in the 4×2 and finished just outside the podium. “We were ranked third going in, but it’s a crazy race and very close times. It was very tight this year.”
When asked about his exact time on both these events, Babcock commented that he didn’t even know, and added that “it’s pretty easy in track and field to get caught up on the medals and running fast times, but even just the presence [he has] within the team and community” is what he values the most.
This attitude was evident in his performance as the anchor on the 4×4 relay. “The game plan was give Owen a chance,” Ferth said. Babcock trusted his younger teammates to maintain a pace that would enable him to kick to a podium finish, and this trust ultimately proved well-placed. Each leg was able to sustain a speed that gave Babcock the necessary lead to surge toward the bronze, securing their qualification for the U SPORTS National Championships. “That was really awesome,” Babcock said. “Being here and bringing the relay team to both the podium and nationals has been a big goal of the season. And now I’m excited to see what these boys can do when the pressure is on them at Nationals.”
Babcock and his team will compete in the 2024 U SPORTS Track and Field Championships on March 7-9, and UW’s athletic community remains eager to witness his continued excellence on the track and the collective success of the Warriors at the upcoming competition.
