Naval Academy Athletics

Billy Edwards will enter his 18th season as the head coach of the Navy triathlon team in the fall of 2025. The 2025-26 season will be the third in which the Navy women’s team is a varsity sport.
 
Under the leadership of Coach Edwards, the Navy women’s triathlon team delivered a strong showing during the 2024–25 season, competing in six races and making notable progress throughout the year. The Mids opened the season with a second-place finish at the Patriots Triathlon, highlighted by impressive collegiate debuts from freshmen Natalie Wang and Dylan Cashin, who secured first and third place, respectively. Their performances set the tone for a competitive season.
 
Wang and Cashin once again led the team at the NCAA East Regional Qualifier, finishing 30th and 49th overall in a field of 133 athletes. Their efforts contributed to Navy's eighth-place team finish out of 21 programs. The Mids closed the season with an appearance at the NCAA National Championship, placing 11th out of 14 qualifying teams. Wang capped her rookie season as Navy’s top individual finisher at Nationals, coming in 60th overall.
 
The Mids competed in seven triathlons during their inaugural varsity season in 2023-24. Edwards led Navy to its first team victory under varsity status at the Waterman's Sprint Triathlon. Haley Harris, Anna Wekluk and Sara Jarman swept the podium, placing first, second and third, respectively, in the race.
 
Navy had a strong showing at the NCAA East Regional, placing sixth of 20 teams. All five scoring mids placed in the top-50 individually in a field of 117 competitors. Harris led the way with a 13th-place effort for Navy’s top placement. 
 
The Mids garnered a spot in the top-seeded heat for the NCAA Championship based on the individual times of their top-five athletes at regionals. Five mids posted an individual score at regionals that ranked in the top-100 nationally. Navy was one of only 12 programs to qualify as a team for the top-seeded heat for the NCAA Championship. The Mids went on to place 13th at nationals. All five of Edwards’ athletes who scored in the event finished in the top 75. Over 200 athletes from 31 programs took part in the national championship. Harris was once again the leader in the race for Navy by placing 36th. 
 
Under his guidance at the club level, Navy’s triathlon 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 14 of its 15 seasons with Edwards at the helm.
 
USNA Class of 2018 graduates Daniel Lloyd and Stephanie Murphy each won Collegiate Club national individual championships. Kevin Holder (2017), Daniel Lloyd (2018), Adam Estroff (2021) and Eli Walz (2022) each earned overall individual combined podium awards at Collegiate Club Nationals.  Additionally, over 100 Midshipmen have garnered USA Triathlon All-America honors. Five Mids also have qualified for the Ironman World Championship and USNA Class of 2018 graduate Emma Mickelson earned top-overall military honors at the event. 
 
Edwards also actively coaches individual triathletes. His individual military athletes have represented the Marines Corps and Navy in triathlon at the Armed Forces Championship, with three earning spots to the World Military Championship. Edwards coached Lt. Cmdr. Davis Frease, USN, to top military honors at the 2021 Ironman World Championship. His athletes have earned amateur podium spots at Ironman competitions and two have won Ironman 70.3s. Additionally, nine of his amateur athletes have earned their elite license along with six in draft legal racing.
 
A 2000 graduate of the Naval Academy, Edwards was a member of the men’s cross country and track and field teams during his time as a Mid. He was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps and served in the role until 2006.
 
Along with coaching, Edwards also competed at the professional level in triathlon for five years. He has four professional top-10 Ironman placings and has qualified for the Ironman World Championship twice as a professional and twice as an amateur. Edwards won the 2015 Ultraman Florida. 
 
Additionally, he earned All-Marine and All-Armed Forces honors in both triathlon and cross country and represented the U.S. Armed Forces team in each. In 2005, Edwards raced in the short course draft legal Military Worlds in Ventura, Calif., and competed in the 12km for the U.S. at the World Military Cross Country Championship in Tunisia.
 
His wife, Lara, was a collegiate All-American swimmer at Williams College. The couple has two children.