Wildcat Wrap: Arizona triathlon takes fifth at National Championships

Editor’s note: With several sports going on, Wildcat Wrap serves as a recap that focuses on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.

The Arizona women’s triathlon program concluded its inaugural season with a fifth-place showing at the Collegiate Triathlon National Championships last weekend in Tempe.

Junior Laura Holánszky led Arizona with a time of 1:04:52 to finish in 11^th place overall. Junior Lydia Russell earned a time of 1:05:12 to take 14th place while freshman Dana Prikrylová finished in 1:05:30, earning 18th place.

ASU won the title with 999 points, followed by Queens University (N.C.) with 967. Arizona’s 917 points were only 16 points shy of a podium finish, as San Francisco and Denver tied for third with 933 each. Eleven teams competed in total.

“I could not be more proud of this team who showed up this first year and truly shined,” said head coach Wes Johnson. “To take fifth place at the national championship in our first year, just only 16 points shy of a podium finish, is really mind blowing for me. The goal of year one has been accomplished by building an unbelievable culture with a unique team unity that will be the foundation of this program for years to come. The future is incredibly bright with Arizona Triathlon, and there are big things coming our way.”

Last week Arizona signed its first full recruiting class, which Johnson called “hands down one of the strongest recruiting classes, if not the strongest, in NCAA Triathlon history.”

The class features three U.S. and two international athletes.

Cross Country

Cross country also concluded its season last weekend at NCAA Western Regionals in Sacramento.

The men finished 15th in the 10K, while the women placed 28th in the 6K.

Ian Sanchez Lopez led the men with a time of 30:09.3 to finish 43rd overall.

Sailor Hutton was the top finisher for the women, running a time of 20:49.1 to take 72nd.

Stanford won both the men’s and women’s events.

“Today marked the end of our cross country season,” said head coach Bernard Lagat. “However, there’s still a lot we can improve on. My coaching staff and I are committed to ensuring that our distance athletes get the best training and opportunities they deserve now and in the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons. “

Track and field

Track and field announced the promotion of two assistant coaches.

Dominic Johnson and Bob Myers have both been promoted to full-time assistants. Johnson will continue coaching pole vault and Myers will continue coaching high jump.

Myers had served as a volunteer assistant since 2012-13 and Johnson since 2021-22.

Beach volleyball

The Big 12 announced last week that it will add beach volleyball and women’s lacrosse.

The Big 12 beach volleyball lineup will include Arizona, ASU, Utah and TCU. Arizona is of course familiar with ASU and Utah but TCU may be the class of the league.

Last year TCU went 37-3 while making its first NCAA Semifinals appearance in program history.