Sports Spotlight: Women’s Triathlon ends season placing third at Nationals, second at West Regional Championship
Willamette’s Women’s Triathlon team concluded their season placing third at the Collegiate Championships in Tempe, Ariz. this past weekend.
Sofie Szigeti (’28) was the first Bearcat to complete the course and placed 14th in the individual division III competition. Allison Pettett (’29) placed 16th, Charlotte Andrews (‘29) placed 17th, Natalie Thomas (’27) placed 20th, Katie Clemens (’28) placed 22nd, Maya Ryley (’27) placed 24th, and Paulina Pioszak (’27) placed 27th.
This came after the team’s second place ranking at the West Regional Championship in Fort Worth, Texas on Oct.18. The Collegian caught up with some key players ahead of the Collegiate Championships, recapping their Regional Championship meet and shared goals ahead of their final match.
The climate in Texas was surprisingly cold, much to the liking of the team. The triathlon covers running, biking and swimming, all outdoors, so the temperature can shift the foundations of how the team has competed.
Thomas commented, “We train here [at Willamette], so it's a perfect climate all the time, and going to Texas was a little scary. Being like, ‘oh, it's gonna be hot,’ but it was a cold front, so it was lovely.”
While the team can place overall, the individual competitors still compete against each other, including teammates. “I want to catch whoever's in front of me, even if they are on my team,” said Pettett. “But if they still go on to do really well and beat me, it's fine because we're all working for the same thing.”
This competition is often encouraging amongst teammates, and can push each other forward rather than hold each other back. “I personally like it because it's a friendly competition. So even if your teammate beats you, you're still winning.”
The team itself has crafted a very supportive environment, even while actively competing against one another. “I think it's a healthy competition. It can get unhealthy, but I haven't seen that on our team,” Pettett said.
Thomas agrees.
“We need to be a little bit more competitive with each other, but we have this thing where we give each other a bear claw, like when we pass each other in the races because it's a lot of loops,” Thomas said. “We'll see each other…that's really fun.”
Pettett placed 12th in the individual division III competition, and Thomas placed 9th in the individual division III competition, with only 6 seconds in between their final times.
With high hopes for future competitions, Thomas noted, “We've gotten fourth [at] nationals I think three years in a row, so we're kind of hoping for that third place at nationals.”
On Nov. 8, with the Willamette Triathlon’s third place placement, the team secured their end goal.
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