ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's triathlon team begins its second season at the Patriots Triathlon on Sunday in Williamsburg, Va. The event is slated to start at 7:00 a.m.
"This is our sophomore year and we have a young team with a small recruiting class that came here to specifically be a part of our varsity triathlon program. They bring unique skill sets and are beginning their college athletic careers growing the Navy program," said head coach Billy Edwards. "For a majority of this team, they've actually been working together through plebe summer so this race is a long time coming."
Participating Teams
Delaware State University and Hampton University
Triathlon Rundown
The event consists of a NCAA distance standard of a Sprint Distance Triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike, 5k run) and is a local season opener for all three teams. The event has a beach start and a flat course on the bike and run.
2023-24 Season Recap
Navy concluded its first varsity season with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championship in Tempe, Ariz. The event featured 31 teams and 211 total competitors. All five mids who scored in the race finished in the top 75 to total 734 team points. Navy's score helped it finish one spot above its championship preseed (12).
Women's triathlon began its first season as a varsity team with a second-place showing out of four teams at the Wingate Bulldog SuperSprint Kickoff Duathlon in Wingate, N.C. Navy scored 92 points from its top-five individual placements in the meet. Four mids placed in the top 10 individually.
The Mids concluded the regular season on a terrific note by winning the Waterman's Sprint Triathlon in Rock Hall, Md., to capture the first team victory in their varsity history.
Head Coach Billy Edwards
Edwards enters his 17th season as the head coach of the Navy triathlon team. Under his guidance, Navy's triathlon club team has won two overall national championships (2009, '18), along with three men's team championships (2015, '17, '18) and one women's team championship (2011). Navy has placed among the top-five teams in the nation in 12 of its 13 seasons with Edwards at the helm. (National Championships were not contested in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19).
Meet the Mids
Lone returning senior, Vela, is a 2022 USA Triathlon All-American. She capped off her junior season placing 72nd at the NCAA Championships. The Chester, Md., native had a season-best placement of sixth place at the Waterman's Sprint Triathlon.
Navy welcomes three freshmen that consists of Dylan Cashin, Sailor Eastman and Natalie Wang. Cashin was a cross country athlete in high school where she was a three-time state-qualifier and a New Balance Nationals All-American. Eastman is a dual-sport athlete at the Naval Academy as a member of the cross country team, a three-sport athlete in high school who earned letters in cross country, track and field, and swimming. Wang was a three-sport athlete in cross country, swimming and track and field and served as captain for all three sports.
Up Next
Navy will compete in the Duquesne Collegiate Cup next Saturday at Brady's Run Park in Beaver Falls, Pa. The women's draft-legal race will begin at 7:30 a.m.
