Colorado Mesa University is the first NCAA Triathlon program in the State of Colorado

Colorado Mesa University is the first NCAA Triathlon program in the State of Colorado. We caught up with head coach Geoff Hanson to learn about the Maverick’s first season and this foundation-building year. “This first season has been a learning process for all of us. It’s something we talk to our team about and the kids we recruit. We are the one and only NCAA [triathlon] program in the State.”
We asked how important the relationship with USA Triathlon is to the success of starting and growing triathlon as a women’s NCAA sport. “USAT is the driving force in all of this. What they have is a grant system to get NCAA programs started. The support from the top of USAT is only going to help the sport grow. When you see the momentum growing, other schools want to get involved.”
There are seven women and seven men on the roster at CMU. They come from a variety of backgrounds including cross county, cycling and swimming, but most everyone is new to the sport of triathlon this year, and draft legal racing in particular. The Mavericks qualified for the National Championship at the Pumpkinman Triathlon in Boulder City, Nevada on October 21st. Just prior to the team getting on the bus for Tempe Arizona, we asked coach Hanson how the team was feeling. “They’re excited and it should be a great race. We’re just incredibly honored that we could qualify for the national championship in our first season”.
USAT put out a press release earlier this week summarizing the race and Arizona State University’s title defense among the 11 varsity teams and 10 club teams. The race included high profile figures such as 2016 Olympian Ben Kanute and USAT National team member Renee Tomlin as announcers. When asked about CMU’s performance in Tempe, coach Hanson told us “Our top finisher, Hannah Brockie, was 39th overall out of 83 starters in all divisions. She was the 11th finisher among the Division II competitors. I was very pleased to have an athlete finish in the top half of such a talented field. As our program concludes its first year of NCAA competition, I feel like we have laid a great foundation to build on and I’m excited about the future of CMU Triathlon!”