NCAA Triathlon for Athletes
From recruiting to NCAA bylaws, there's a lot for prospective NCAA triathletes to manage before joining a team.
NCAA Triathlon
Over the last decade, women’s triathlon has made significant progress towards becoming a full-fledged NCAA championship sport. In 2022, Cal Poly Humboldt became the 40th school to add varsity women’s triathlon, meeting one of the NCAA’s requirements surrounding sustainability and success at the NCAA varsity level. Only becoming an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women in 2014, triathlon is already a varsity sport at schools in all three levels of NCAA competition across the nation.
Every fall, USA Triathlon hosts a sprint distance draft-legal championship race for schools in each of the three NCAA divisions. By sponsoring a national championship race, providing resources and funding to schools adding triathlon and championing triathlon at all levels of intercollegiate competition, USA Triathlon is committed to helping the sport reach full NCAA status.
Teams
Each member institution is allowed a maximum of 6.5 (Division I) or 5.0 (Division II) equivalency scholarships. There is no lower scholarship equivalency limit.
Teams must have at least three athletes. There is no upper roster limit.
Teams must participate in at least four and at most six intercollegiate contests (except dates of competition excluded under Bylaws).
Races
Races are draft-legal and cover the sprint distance (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run)
- Distances for each discipline can vary slightly
Five participants per team may compete in the varsity draft-legal race.
Scoring
Scoring will be modeled after the cross country scoring system.
- All athletes who finish a race will be given an overall-finish place.
- Team scoring will be calculated by totaling the points of the first three finishing athletes on each team. The team with the lowest number of points will be the winner.
- Although the athletes finishing after their fourth-place teammate on a team to finish do not score points towards their team's total, their places, if any better than those of any of the first four (4) of an opposing team, serve to increase the team score of the opponents.
USA Triathlon Collegiate Triathlon Virtual Combine
Learn More, opens in a new tabUSA Triathlon has partnered with Gametime, a recruitment platform for high school athletes to showcase their training details and videos at no cost. If you are interested in having collegiate club and NCAA Women's program coaches look at your details - 1600-meter run and 100-meter swim – this is the place to go.
Around 40 NCAA schools sponsor women's triathlon. Stretched across all three NCAA divisions and located in 25 states, NCAA Triathlon is nationwide. No matter any prospective student-athlete's school preferences, they can find a school that fits their need.
Interested in helping to identify and recruit the next women’s varsity collegiate triathlon program? Inquiries may be directed to Tim Yount, USA Triathlon Chief Sport Development Officer. You can schedule an informational meeting with Tim here: https://calendly.com/tim-yount/30min
The following is a list of athletic and academic honors to be used by the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association during the 2024-2025 season. These honors are for current, paid members of the CTCA varsity NCAA-sponsored teams only.
Scholar All-American - this (certificate) will be awarded to the top 20 varsity athlete finishers in each division at the National Championship who have maintained a GPA of 3.5 or better throughout the fall semester of competition. Grades will be submitted at the end of the semester.
Scholar All-American: Honorable Mention - this (list) will be varsity athletes in each division who compete in but do not finish in the top 20 in their division at the National Championship who have maintained a GPA of 3.5 or better throughout the fall semester of competition. Grades will be submitted at the end of the semester.
Team Honors -
The CTCA recognizes Scholar All-America Teams for the Fall Semester. To be recognized, teams must:
- Be current CTCA members;
- Have achieved a grade point average of 3.2 or higher;
- Grades will be submitted by a current CTCA member or their designee by the entry deadline at the end of the fall semester.
Calculating Team GPA
- For Fall 2022: GPAs should be calculated using all student-athletes on a team’s roster, regardless of competition.
- Team GPA calculations shall not include redshirts.
- Use each student-athletes' semester/quarter GPA (do not use cumulative GPAs).
Regional Championships
- All-Region Freshman - Each regional championship will recognize the top TRUE freshman varsity finisher, per division, at each regional championship.
- All-Region Team - At each regional qualifier, the athletes will have the opportunity to become a member of the All-Region team by placing in the top 7 in their Division at each of these races.
National Championship
- Freshman of the Year - Any varsity triathlete who is a TRUE freshman and is the top finisher in their Division, at the National Championship, will be awarded this honor.
- All-American - Varsity athletes will be awarded All-American status based on their placing at the National Championship. First Team – Athletes 1-7 in each division
Second Team – Athletes 8-14 in each division
Honorable Mention – Athletes 15-21 in each division
- Coach of the Year - All current (paid) Head Coaches in the CTCA will be allowed to participate in a vote for Coach of the Year.
- All-Region Freshman - List published after each Regional Qualifier
- All-Region Team - List published after each Regional Qualifier
- Freshman of the Year - Plaque presented at National Championship awards ceremony
- Coach of the Year - Plaque presented at National Championship awards ceremony
- Scholar All-American - Certificate mailed and list published in January
- Scholar All-American: Honorable Mention - List published in January
- Academic Team Honors - List published in January
- Athletic All-American - Certificate mailed and list published in January
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