Women’s collegiate triathlon closed its fall season the way it’s been trending for years now — faster, deeper, and harder to call than the season before. On November 8 at Tempe Town Lake, nearly 200 varsity athletes from all three NCAA divisions raced a draft-legal sprint: a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike, and a 5-kilometer run. Three programs walked away with team titles, and none of them did it the easy way.
If you’re new to the sport, that draft-legal sprint format is the same one you see at the Olympics — packs working together on the bike, multiple loops on a closed course, and a run that usually decides everything. It rewards athletes who can do all three disciplines well and punishes anyone with a weak link. Here’s how the day unfolded.
Division I: Arizona Defends the Crown
The University of Arizona did more than win — it took over. Five Wildcats finished in the top 10, the kind of stat-sheet domination that’s tough to argue with in a scoring format modeled on cross country, where depth wins championships.
Kelly Wetteland led the way, claiming the individual national title in 1:02:09 and turning last year’s runner-up finish into gold. Teammate Margareta Vrablova pushed her the whole way, taking second just 10 seconds back. Arizona State answered with a strong team effort of its own to grab silver, and TCU rounded out the top three on the strength of a 13th-place ride from its lead athlete. It was Arizona’s second title in program history — and, after defending the crown it won in 2024, the first sign that the Wildcats may be building something that lasts.
Division II: Lenoir-Rhyne Recaptures It
Division II gave the day its closest finish. Lenoir-Rhyne and defending champion Wingate traded blows all afternoon, and when the points were tallied the margin was four — 762 to 758. That’s about as tight as a team title gets.
The Bears got it done up front, with Zoila Sicilia taking the individual title and teammate Sabrina Fleig right behind her in second. Wingate freshman Shelby Lajeunesse announced herself with a third-place finish to anchor the runner-up effort, and Drury claimed the final podium spot. For Lenoir-Rhyne, it’s a second team title in three years and a measure of redemption after finishing second in 2024.
Division III: North Central’s Dynasty Continues
Some races are about drama. This one was about inevitability. North Central College won its fourth straight Division III team title — and sixth overall — behind a 1-2 individual punch from Bethany Smeed and Keely Mick.
Trine pushed back to take second as a team, led by Grace Huisman in third, with Central College third. Huisman’s season had an extra layer to it: this past summer she was named the 2025 winner of THE ALEXANDER, collegiate triathlon’s most prestigious honor, which recognizes an athlete who excels on the course while also setting the standard in the classroom and the community. It’s the kind of award that captures what this level of the sport is actually about.
The Bigger Picture
As of the 2025-26 season, 42 schools across the country sponsor women’s triathlon at the varsity level — a number that matters, because it’s a key threshold on the sport’s path toward becoming a fully recognized NCAA Championship Sport. Triathlon was designated an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women back in 2014, and a decade of steady growth has it knocking on that door.
For fans, that growth is the whole story. A sport that barely existed at the varsity level ten years ago just sent nearly 200 athletes to a national championship, produced three genuine team races, and crowned individual champions across every division. The talent is real, the competition is deep, and the programs backing these athletes are multiplying every season.
Keep an eye on these teams. The 2026 season is already coming.
