Colorado Mesa U adds Triathlon to Varsity Collegiate Sports

Colorado Mesa adds men’s and women’s triathlon to sports stable
From Grand Junction Sentinel
Yes, triathlon is a collegiate sport.
And yes, Colorado Mesa is getting in on the ground floor. The Mavericks will offer men’s and women’s triathlon next fall, the first college in Colorado to offer the emerging sport.
Triathlon will bring CMU’s number of varsity sports to 26.
Only 16 other schools across the nation offer the sport now, said Tom Spicer, CMU’s athletic director, and when 40 schools field teams, it can become an NCAA championship sport. USA Triathlon currently runs a collegiate championship.
The Mavericks hope to have 6-8 student-athletes per team next fall, and Geoff Hanson, CMU’s swim coach who will coach the triathletes, said he’s already had one senior swimmer talk to him about using his fifth year of eligibility to compete in triathlon.
“It’s more common than you think,” Hanson said of swimmers jumping into triathlon, as well as track athletes and cyclists crossing over. “It’s a way to keep swimming and a way to stay in shape, and adding other sports.
“There’s a big base of talent in the Front Range, Phoenix, a lot of youth triathlons. It’s a matter of getting the word out to some of these folks.”
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