Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania becomes the 37th university program in the United States that will offer a women’s triathlon program. The team will start competing in the fall of 2022. This is an important announcement as it puts the sport just three university programs away from the required 40 schools to “prove the sport’s sustainability at the NCAA level.” Triathlon was given 10 years to meet that 40-school number when it was designated an “Emerging Sport” in 2014.
Triathlon is a fall sport with four national qualifying events followed by the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships. Arizona State University has won the last four NCAA Division I team titles (there was no championship in 2020), while Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina has won the last five Dvision II titles, and North Central College, Illinois, has won the Division III title for the last four years, too.
The women compete over the sprint distance – a 750 m swim, 20 km draft-legal bike and a 5 km run.
Here’s a list of the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon Programs:
NCAA Division I (9)
Arizona State University (Tempe, Ariz.)
Delaware State University (Dover, Del.)
East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Hampton University (Hampton, Va.)
Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas)
University of Denver (Denver, Colo.)
University of San Francisco (San Francisco. Calif.)
University of South Dakota (Vermillion, S.D.)
Wagner College (Staten Island, N.Y.)
NCAA Division II (15)
American International College (Springfield, Mass.)
Belmont Abbey College (Belmont, N.C.)
Black Hills State University (Spearfish, S.D.)
Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction, Colo.)
Daemen College (Amherst, N.Y.)
Davis & Elkins College (Elkins, W.V.)
Drury University (Springfield, Mo.)
Emmanuel College (Franklin Springs, Ga.)
King University (Bristol, Tenn.)
Lenoir-Rhyne University (Hickory, N.C.)
Montana State University Billings (Billings, Mont.)
Newberry College (Newberry, S.C.)
Queens University of Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)
St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.)
Wingate University (Wingate, N.C.)
NCAA Division III (13)
Alvernia University (Reading, Pa.)
Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Central College (Pella, Iowa)
Coe College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Concordia University Wisconsin (Mequon, Wis.)
Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Va.)
Guilford College (Greensboro, N.C.)
Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.)
North Central College (Naperville, Ill.)
Northern Vermont University-Johnson (Johnson, Vt.)
Transylvania University (Lexington, Ky.)
Trine University (Angola, Ind.)
Willamette University (Salem, Ore.)
