Well, that was quick.
In the program’s second season as a university sport, the Arizona Wildcats triathlon team won its first-ever USA Triathlon national championship. Arizona won the event in Clermont, Florida, on Saturday.
The UA triathlon team is led by head coach Wes Johnson and assistant coach Jocelyn Bonney.
The national championship on Saturday marked the fourth competitive event of the season for Arizona. The Wildcats tied for first place at the NCAA national qualifier last month.
The Arizona triathlon program won a national championship in the program’s second season.
Collectively, measuring biking, swimming and running times, Arizona had four Wildcats place in the top 10: junior and New Mexico native Kelly Lynn Wetteland (59 minutes, 20 seconds), Slovakian freshman Margareta Vrablova (59:24), Canadian junior Molly Lakustiak (59:50) and sophomore and Czech Republic native Dana Prikrylová (01:00:09).
Pennsylvania product Ellison Wolfe finished 13th (01:00:32); she had the fastest bike time (30:11). Senior Lydia Russell, a Pennsylvania native and New Mexico transfer, was the only triathlon athlete to have a sub-17-minute run time (16:59); she finished 21st overall.
Other teams at the national championship included Arizona State, TCU, Wingate University, South Dakota, San Francisco, Queens University of Charlotte, Denver, Lenoir Rhyne, Duquesne, East Tennessee State, Navy, Cal Poly Humboldt and Delaware State, among others.
The win for Arizona is the 24th national championship for UA athletics — the first since Arizona women’s golf won the NCAA national championship in 2018.
