Collegiate Times

Several members of the Tech Triathlon Club go for a run during a team practice in the late afternoon of Oct. 29. The club sent members to the Ironman Florida competition this past weekend.

The club usually competes in two to four team races each semester. Team races are defined as official races where the team travels, stays and competes together; the club pays for these races, and the money is gathered from fundraising events done throughout the year.

Training for triathlons may sound daunting to an outsider, but for the participants, it is nothing out of the ordinary.

"Most people run about 20 miles per week, ride for a few hours a week, and swim two to four times a week," Chang said.  

So far this semester, the Triathlon Club has competed in three independent triathlons and collegiate regionals. Most of the focus is put on collegiate regionals in the fall.  The women's team finished second and the men's team finished in third place.

The club competes against local Virginia schools, such as James Madison University and the Naval Academy in Maryland, for most of the season. In the spring, however, schools from all over the country are represented at collegiate nationals.

"Pretty much the rest of our season and our year is dedicated to collegiate nationals in the spring," Chang said.

Nationals this year will be held on April 18 in Lubbock, Texas. The team will send the top seven women and the top seven men to compete.

"That's determined by past races," Morrison, a junior aerospace engineering major said.  "Whoever has done the best recently is who we send to nationals."

Last year, the team claimed 11th place at the USAT Collegiate Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Ala.  The women's team came home in fifth position, while senior Crystal Pruitt was the fastest of all the undergraduates that competed.

For this season, Morrison is hoping for slight improvements in both the men and women's squads.

"We'd like to get top five at nationals," he said.  "It'd be nice if the girls got top three and it'd be nice if the guys got in the top four or five."

Although this club takes anyone who is interested, "there's some competition there," Chang said.

The club attracts students who swam and ran competitively in high school and those who have been competing in triathlons for years.

"We take everyone from beginners all the way up to super advanced," Chang said.  "We've had a professional triathlete on the team before. It's pretty much open to anybody who's interested."

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