By Adrienne Esposito, Staff Writer
The Newman men’s and women’s triathlon team is on its way to Tucson, AZ to compete in the collegiate national tournament.
Freshman Marlie Wagner said in an email that members of the team were able to qualify simply by completing any regional race. The team earned enough points to qualify for nationals due to a mixed team relay that they competed in earlier in the season.
Senior Brandon Steiner said in an email that the team has been upping the intensity in and out of practice to prepare for the races this weekend.
“Individually, we do extra hours of practice on our own time with long runs on the weekends as well as recovery. As a team, we practice five days a week. These last two weeks of practice have been outside the city and lasting three hours sometimes,” Steiner said.
In addition to the physical preparation, Wagner said she’s been working on her mental approach to the race as well.
“Individually, I have had to focus on the mental aspect of the sport. I go through everything that could go wrong in the race and then I go through everything that could right, in order to prepare myself for all available possibilities,” Wagner said.
Steiner said that his personal goal is to finish among the top 200 competitors and has hope that the team will finish in the top 15, while Wagner is expecting some personal records to be broken by several of her teammates who are competing at nationals and at Olympic distance for the first time.
“As a team, we’re really looking to finish strong, try our best and strongest and make sure that Newman Triathletes are remembered,” Wagner said. “Overall, the season has been incredible. We’ve gained new athletes and as always we’re adapting to any challenges that are thrown our way. Everybody has put in incredible work this year and the team dynamic shows just how important we view both our sport and each other.”
PHOTO: THE NEWMAN TRIALTHLON team is on its way to Tucson, AZ to compete in the collegiate national tournament. Courtesy photo, Newman Athletics
