FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: Jumper Repeats as All-American

After a record-setting junior year in which she finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships, garnered All-American honors, won both the Heps Indoor and Outdoor titles, and won the ECAC Championship, what could Harvard women’s track team captain and high jumper Becky Christensen do for an encore?

Do it all over again.

The senior followed up her third-year campaign with another outstanding season, earning All-American honors for the second straight year with a fifth-place finish in the high jump at the NCAA indoor competition.

But for Christensen, there was never much pressure to replicate her tremendous success from junior year.

“There were expectations that I would do well, but it was more like I was excited to see if I could do better than last year,” Christensen said. “And I managed to do that.”

Christensen’s improvements in her final season included a new personal record at the HYP meet, helping the women to a decisive victory over Yale and Princeton. She set her new personal record at 1.91 meters, a mark that is second on the Crimson’s all-time list. Yet throughout all of her accomplishments, Christensen never appeared distracted by the allure of records.

“She never gets too up or too down,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “That’s one of her greatest strengths. She’s just so competitive, and she’s able to keep things in perspective and just focus on the moment as opposed to getting caught up in the bigger picture and allowing something beyond her control to take her off her game.”

Christensen also made a strong fifth-place showing at the NCAA Indoor Championships, although her finish represented a slip by one spot after she took fourth as a junior. In a year that produced better overall jumps, Christensen saw her championship effort as a bittersweet result.

“I was kind of disappointed because I was hoping I would jump higher,” Christensen said. “I jumped three inches lower than my PR, but at the same time, you can’t be disappointed with placing at Nationals. I was still happy with my place.”

Known throughout the Ivy League for her consistent performances, Christensen won the high jump in nearly every meet during the indoor and outdoor seasons. On her way to yet another resounding selection to the All-Ivy First Team, the star athlete won the Indoor Heptagonals and the ECAC Championships for the second year in a row.

But as accomplished as Christensen already is, she recognizes that the opportunity to learn never stops.

“We’re still trying to improve our approach, which is my runup to the bar,” Christensen said. “There are a lot of things that I I do well, but I only do them well sometimes, so getting more consistent with my run is something that still needs to be improved, and can help me jump even higher.”

Though she will graduate this year, Christensen will remain in the Boston area to continue to train with her coaches. Christensen harbors hopes of competing at a professional level and will look to attract the attention of a sponsor as she trains.

“I’ll find some random job that will give me enough money to eat and sleep in a bed,” Christensen said. “All I know is that I want to keep jumping.”

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.