By Mercedes DeCarli
USA Triathlon announced the schedule for the NCAA women’s triathlon season Monday. The news comes as a step forward for women to solidify the sport of triathlon as an NCAA sport.
In November of 2014, women’s triathlon was voted to become an emerging NCAA sport. This means that they have 10 years in which to prove that they can meet the requirements of existing NCAA sports, including the number of schools that have competitive teams.
This year, the season will consist of four races in total: three regional qualifiers and one championship. The race format will follow a draft-legal sprint triathlon format with a 750-meter (.46-mile) swim, 20-kilometer (12.4-miles) bike, and 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run.
According to USAT, the first qualifying race will be held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5 for the Central region. The east coast regional qualifier will follow in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 2. The final qualifying race will take place on October 8 in Berkeley, California for the west coast.
The qualifying races will be open to both NCAA teams and collegiate clubs. The USAT announcement says that emails will be sent with invitations to the regional qualifier based on location. All women must qualify through one of these three races in order to compete at the national championship event.
The NCAA National Championship event will be held on November 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both NCAA program teams and collegiate club teams will fill the field; the field will be capped at 75 women. This will be a new venue as the national championship was held in Clermont, Florida for the pervious two years.
According to the USAT website, “The top three five-woman teams from each regional qualifier, as well as a minimum of the top two individual women from those events, will automatically earn a spot for the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championship on Nov. 5.”
This means that if one or two of the top schools in Colorado sends five women to compete as a team in the regional qualifier, they could qualify as a team to race in New Orleans for the national title. In the same way, if the top 2 individual placing women outside of the 3 five-person teams are from Colorado, they can qualify to compete at the national championship as well.
Last year, the title was taken by Colorado’s own Abby Levene of University of Colorado Boulder in a time of one hour, two minutes, thirty-nine seconds. We could see another athlete from Colorado take the top spot again this year, or even a collegiate club team from Colorado take the top spot.
To read the original announcement on the USAT website, click here.
If you have any questions about the women’s collegiate triathlon NCAA program, the qualifying events, or the national championship, please contact USAT representative Jess Luscinski at jess.luscinski@usatriathlon.org.
You can also find general information on the USA Triathlon website at usatriathlon.org/ncaa.
USA Triathlon announced the schedule for the NCAA women’s triathlon season Monday. The news comes as a step forward for women to solidify the sport of triathlon as an NCAA sport.
In November of 2014, women’s triathlon was voted to become an emerging NCAA sport. This means that they have 10 years in which to prove that they can meet the requirements of existing NCAA sports, including the number of schools that have competitive teams.
This year, the season will consist of four races in total: three regional qualifiers and one championship. The race format will follow a draft-legal sprint triathlon format with a 750-meter (.46-mile) swim, 20-kilometer (12.4-miles) bike, and 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run.
According to USAT, the first qualifying race will be held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5 for the Central region. The east coast regional qualifier will follow in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 2. The final qualifying race will take place on October 8 in Berkeley, California for the west coast.
The qualifying races will be open to both NCAA teams and collegiate clubs. The USAT announcement says that emails will be sent with invitations to the regional qualifier based on location. All women must qualify through one of these three races in order to compete at the national championship event.
The NCAA National Championship event will be held on November 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both NCAA program teams and collegiate club teams will fill the field; the field will be capped at 75 women. This will be a new venue as the national championship was held in Clermont, Florida for the pervious two years.
According to the USAT website, “The top three five-woman teams from each regional qualifier, as well as a minimum of the top two individual women from those events, will automatically earn a spot for the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championship on Nov. 5.”
This means that if one or two of the top schools in Colorado sends five women to compete as a team in the regional qualifier, they could qualify as a team to race in New Orleans for the national title. In the same way, if the top 2 individual placing women outside of the 3 five-person teams are from Colorado, they can qualify to compete at the national championship as well.
Last year, the title was taken by Colorado’s own Abby Levene of University of Colorado Boulder in a time of one hour, two minutes, thirty-nine seconds. We could see another athlete from Colorado take the top spot again this year, or even a collegiate club team from Colorado take the top spot.
To read the original announcement on the USAT website, click here.
If you have any questions about the women’s collegiate triathlon NCAA program, the qualifying events, or the national championship, please contact USAT representative Jess Luscinski at jess.luscinski@usatriathlon.org.
You can also find general information on the USA Triathlon website at usatriathlon.org/ncaa.
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