EMU Women’s Triathlon soared to new heights this season, capping it off with four individual top-15 finishes and a third place team finish at the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) DIII National Championships this past weekend in Tempe, AZ. The highly competitive field consisted of schools from across the country, including defending champions North Central College who would go on to win for the second year in a row.
A podium finish like this is “kind of a miracle.” Coach Bob Hepler said. “None of the women had done a triathlon when they arrived at EMU.” But they “put in so much time training and had to make lots of personal sacrifices to achieve this goal,” he said.
Success did not always come easy for the Royals. There were bike crashes, sick races, asthma attacks and crying, yet through it all, the triathletes demonstrated their dedication, resilience, and joy for the sport. Coach Hepler said, “nothing seemed to go right for us this season yet our women would just keep getting up and act like everything was under control.”
A testament to this was during their East Regional race when they were significantly behind halfway through the race Coach said, but “they kept calm, dominated the run” and ended up winning the regional. “I still don’t know how that happened,” Hepler said.
Triathlon is unique in the way it is ultimately three sports in one, which means training in all three areas. Many of the triathletes are taking demanding classes, yet on top of their busy academic schedules, the Royals find a way to train in each of these areas at a highly competitive level, and it showed this season.
“Getting 3rd for DIII as a team speaks to the dedication that we have put in this past season, as well as building up to that over the past several years,” junior Jenna Weaver said. “It combines grit, amazing coaches and teammates, dedication, and in the end we were able to show off all the hard work we have put in!”
Doing all the little things right is something that Weaver enjoys and to her, triathlon “represents life in a way,” she said. “You’re always going to have ups and downs, but putting in energy will help you get the most out of it.”
Weaver was the first Royal and sixth overall in Division III to cross the finish line. She posted a total race time of 1:17:19.9, earning her All-American status. In the water, she swam for a time of 13:27.9, followed by a bike ride of 40:33.4 and ended her race running a 22:09.1 5k.
Close behind Weaver was graduate student Jessica Buckwalter who made a 14-spot jump from her race a year ago. Her total time of 1:18:15.6 was good for eighth place overall. Buckwalter clocked a swim time of 14:35.2, a bike time of 41:00.9 and an impressive run of 21:36 to conclude her collegiate career.
In tenth place, the third Royal across the line was senior Vanessa Gardiner. Her swim of 13:51.6, bike of 41:34 and run of 22:09.5, combined to give her a total time of 1:18:51.8.
Junior Lily Gusler, while competing in her first nationals race, grabbed the fourth top-15 spot for the Royals. She got off to a speedy start in the swim, posting a time of 11:33.7, which was by far the fastest of the Royals. Following that up with a bike time of 40:53.9 and a run of 26:01.1 finished her with a total time of 1:19:58.3.
First-year Zoe Clymer also made her national championship debut. She finished 46th overall with a swim time of 16:30, a bike time of 47:22.2 and a run time of 27:22.1. Sophomore Daisy Buller also competed for the Royals, but was removed from the race during the bike portion due to the lap rule.
Finishing third in the nation as such a young program is a significant milestone not only for the Women’s Triathlon team, but also EMU athletics as a whole. Coach Hepler said, “the third-place finish will help recruiting. I’ve received a good number of inquiries in the last few days from high school girls.”
With this success, the athletes and coaches are looking forward to growth and continuing to develop into one of the nation’s elite collegiate women’s triathlon programs.
