TEMPE, Ariz. - The Navy women's triathlon team concluded its first varsity season with an 11th-place finish out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championship on Saturday at Tempe Town Lake North Park in Tempe, Ariz.
 
All five Mids who scored in the event finished in the top 75 to total 734 team points. Navy's score helped it finish one spot above its pre-seed (12).
 
The race consisted of a 750m swim, 20 km (12.4 mile) bike and 5k (3.1 mile) run. Over 200 athletes from 31 programs took part in the national championship.
 
Arizona State won its seventh-consecutive national title with a team score of 999. Freshman Maira Carreau from Denver placed first individually with a time of 1:03:22.6.
 
"Today capped off a solid first varsity season for the team. We outplayed our pre-seed by one and I'm proud of the team for competing to the level they were predicted to," said head coach Billy Edwards. "With this event being a national championship there was a lot of great competition. We had a tougher swim than we expected and we had to fight back the entire race. As we approached nationals we knew it was going to be a tough event for us. The conditions were not easy, but the team pushed through as Mids always do. I think down the line we will continue to improve since this was also a learning aspect for us. If you're not winning, you're learning and we have to continue to develop so we can get to the level we want to become national champions in the future."
 
Haley Harris was once again the leader in the race for the Mids. She clocked in a time of 1:07:11.0 to finish 36th overall. She began the competition with strong swim (11:07) and bike (36:05) times that ranked 55th and 51st, respectively. The run segment was Harris' best performance of the race. She posted the 14th-fastest 5k run at 19:03 to end with a pace of 6:08. The junior compiled the fastest time for Navy in all six meets this season.
 
Sara Jarman registered a time of 1:09:48.1 to earn a 60th-place finish. She opened the meet with an 11:27 swim time that ranked 71st in the field. The senior followed up the swim with the 78th-best bike time at 36:47. Jarman used the 49th-fastest run time (20:34) to move up in the rankings to end in 60th place.
 
Madeline Klippenstein had the third-best placement for the Mids. She finished in 68th place with a time of 1:10:46.8. Klippenstein found herself at 94th overall in the standings coming out of the swim with a time of 11:49. The Platte City, Mo., native quickly worked her way back into the top 75 with the 68th-best bike time (36:27). She concluded the competition with a run time of 21:30, which ranked 73rd in the field.
 
Emely Vela once again had an excellent run segment to compile an overall time of 1:11:09.7. She garnered the 45th-fastest run time at 20:23 to help her place 72nd.
 
Anna Wekluk followed right behind Vela with a 75th-place effort at 1:11:26.0. Navy's youngest triathlete continued to show her skills in the swim, ending with a time of 10:40 to post the 26th-best finish. The sophomore also had a great outing on the bike with the 47th-best time at 35:57.
 
Zoe Adama ended with an overall time of 1:12:26.5, but did not receive a placement due to a penalty.
 
Team captain Reagan Quilty was unable to finish the race due to injury.
 
NCAA Triathlon National Championship Top-15 Standings (Team Points)
1. Arizona State (999)
2. Queens University of Charlotte (967)
3. San Francisco (933)
4. Denver (933)
5. Arizona (917)
6. TCU (914)
7. East Tennessee State (891)
8. Lenoir-Rhyne (847)
9. South Dakota (800)
10. Wingate (753)
11. Navy (734)
12. Colorado Mesa (723)
13. Drury (666)
14. Duquesne (630)
15. North Central College (623)