Triathlon took its latest step forward in America amid the action at the 2023 NCAA championships over the weekend.
Hosted by Arizona State University, the defending champions, the event saw athletes from over thirty institutions participate. The NCAA represents university and collegiate sports in the United States and has long been a pipeline of American Olympic talent, particularly in swimming and track and field.
In part due to Title IX regulations, which essentially ensures an equal access to sport at the NCAA level (it more broadly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex at any institution that receives federal funding), triathlon is flourishing in the women’s space.
Typically many NCAA institutions have American football teams; collegiate American football is huge business and often is one of the few sports to actually generate revenue for universities. Traditionally, this has meant plenty of football scholarships for male players. With Title IX, an equal number of women’s scholarships are required which has opened the door for women’s triathlon.
With forty schools now offering triathlon across the three NCAA divisions, triathlon was officially declared an NCAA Emerging Sport for women. In the near future, it is on course to become a full Championships Sport.
In Tempe, Arizona, the 2023 NCAA races took place over the draft-legal Sprint distance format. The 750m swim took place in Tempe Town Lake while the 20km bike consisted of three laps around the lake. A 5km lakeside run then completed the course.
Arizona State University won its seventh consecutive NCAA Division I title as their team put forward a commanding display on home turf. Their leading performer was Naomi Ruff who finished 2nd. Ruff represented America at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg this summer. Prior to that, she also medalled at the North American Junior Championships.
Amber Schlebusch of South Africa, the 2022 champion, then took 3rd place for Arizona State. Schlebusch memorably beat former world champion Katie Zaferes in April at the Americas Cup in Sarasota.
Alongside a 5th place finish from Heidi Jurankova (Czech Republic), Arizona were boosted by the presence of Zoe Adam (Puerto Rico) and Faith Dasso (USA), with both being promising international Junior athletes.
The women’s D1 champion was Maira Carreau of Canada. Racing for the University of Denver, Carreau executed a brilliant race, making the lead pack after a solid swim and then strong performance on the bike.
From there, she dropped a 17:46 run split (the third fastest of the field) to out-gun Ruff and Schlebusch. Her victory was also the University of Denver’s first national collegiate title in triathlon while her team finished 4th overall.
Meanwhile, Queens University of Charlotte, which won six straight DII national titles before stepping up to the DI level in 2022, finished 2nd overall, matching their result from last season. The University of San Francisco then pipped Denver to 3rd place overall.
The Division II and III titles were also decided at the weekend.
Lenoir-Rhyne University of Hickory, North Carolina, won its second consecutive DII title. They were led by Sabrina Fleig (Germany) who won the race. On a separate note, we identified Fleig as the top performer for Karlsruher Lemminge in the 2023 women’s Bundesliga.
North Central College won the team DIII title as Hailey Poe (USA) won her third straight NCAA title.
With plenty of scope to grow, the women’s NCAA triathlon scene will no doubt continue to rise over the next few years.
