NCAA Division II Concord University to Add Women’s Collegiate Triathlon Program

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, is the latest NCAA program to add women's collegiate triathlon to its varsity collegiate sport offerings. An NCAA Division II program, Concord University competes in the Mountain East Conference. The women’s triathlon team at Concord will begin competition in the fall 2026 season.

“Concord University exemplifies the type of institution we seek for the NCAA Women’s Triathlon Program: academically strong, athletically committed, responsive in leadership, and fully invested in the sport’s growth. They are an outstanding addition to our NCAA triathlon community,” said Tim Yount, USA Triathlon Chief Sport Development Officer. “Concord is not only ready to add women’s triathlon, they are also positioned to become a competitive force at the Division II level. The institution has a strong track record of financial discipline, a culture rooted in academic and athletic excellence, and has earned an ‘A’ rating for institutional health.”

“Adding women’s triathlon to Concord is an exciting leap forward,” said President Dr. Bethany Meighen. “We’re proud to be the first in West Virginia to offer the sport and even prouder to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to grow, compete, and thrive.”

“Firstly, I would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Meighen for her support in adding this exciting new sport to Mountain Lion Athletics,” Concord Co-Athletic Director Luke Duffy said. “I would also like to thank USA Triathlon and Tim Yount for offering their guidance and expertise in how this sport will benefit Concord University and our future student-athletes.”

Concord University’s addition of women's triathlon as a collegiate varsity sport is made possible through a grant from the USA Triathlon Foundation. The USA Triathlon Foundation Dave Alexander Grant is distributed to NCAA membership institutions to develop, implement, and sustain women's triathlon programs at the varsity level.

The commitment by Concord University continues the momentum women’s collegiate triathlon has gathered toward becoming an NCAA Championship sport. Women’s Triathlon now has a few more steps to take on its way to being fully managed by the NCAA as a championship event, including committee, council, divisional, and budget approvals.

A fall sport, the women’s triathlon varsity season includes National Qualifiers, followed by the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships. The draft-legal races are sprint-distance, featuring a 750-meter open-water swim, draft-legal 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run. The 2025 Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships were held Nov. 10 in Tempe, Arizona.

In the draft-legal format, athletes work together in packs on the bike and make multiple loops on a closed course. The exciting, spectator-friendly draft-legal format is the same format contested in the triathlon competition at the Olympic Games and on the World Triathlon Championship Series circuit.

For more information about triathlon as an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women, visit https://www.usatriathlon.org/multisport/ncaa-triathlon.

Interested in helping to identify and recruit the next women’s varsity collegiate triathlon program? Athletes currently competing in the sport and those who come from single-sport backgrounds are invited to compete at the NCAA level. Inquiries may be directed to Tim Yount, USA Triathlon Chief Sport Development Officer, at tim.yount@usatriathlon.org.

About USA Triathlon

USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 3,500 events and races and connects with and supports more than 300,000 unique active members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.