While a certain team of Wildcats is sure to be locked in for the kickoff of its 2023 season Saturday night, another Arizona squad is focused on a first of its own this weekend.
The Arizona women’s triathlon team isn’t just opening its season Saturday; rather, it’s the first competition — as in, ever — for the newest of the UA campus’ 22 NCAA-sanctioned varsity sports.
The Wildcats open up against, who else, rival ASU beginning at 7:15 a.m. on the Sun Devils’ Tempe campus.
While NCAA women’s triathlon programs generally compete in swimming, road biking and distance running events under the “sprint triathlon” classification — that’s comprised of, give or take, a 750-meter swim, 20–kilometer bicycle portion and a 5-kilometer run — Saturday’s meet between the upstart Wildcats and the six-time defending NCAA-champion Sun Devils will take on a modified format. Teams will compete in a relay bike and run competition near the ASU Band Field before heading to ASU’s Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for the swim portion of the day.
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Arizona triathlon coach Wes Johnson, right, talks to assistant coach Jocelyn Bonney while the team’s triathletes swim during the program’s first-ever practice Aug. 18 at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
While it’s a given UA head coach Wes Johnson and assistant Jocelyn Bonney want to see their team of 10 athletes not just compete, but of course win, it might be worth forgiving the Wildcats’ coaching staff, at least this time around, for the excitement of just getting to this point.
“The first year, honestly, winning is not the first priority,” Johnson said after a mid-August practice session. “The first priority is to build a culture, build an environment where they all become kind of a family and they can support each other.”
Two weeks ago Friday, the Wildcats jumped into the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center pool on the UA campus for the team’s first practice. Hired nearly 10 months ago to build the Arizona program from the ground up, Johnson’s smile that Friday morning just a few days prior to the start of classes was understandably ear-to-ear.
“There’s been a lot of buildup, yeah,” he said with a laugh.
“There’s a lot of energy. Everyone is super excited. Just good vibes all around,” said Lydia Russell, a junior transfer from New Mexico. “I think everyone is super happy to be here. It’s nice to have a really small team because you can really feel the energy from everyone. No one really gets lost in the shuffle. I think everyone is kind of in the spotlight right now and that’s really exciting.”
Russell is one of a number of UA’s triathletes who joined the Wildcat program this year after NCAA experience in other sports. Russell competed in cross country at Oregon and New Mexico, while sophomore Ellie Tuck, a Tucson native and Salpointe Catholic grad, was a thrower with the UA track and field team before switching to triathlon. Grace Reeder, a senior, swam at Iowa and Arizona before also switching to triathlon, while sophomore Molly Lakustiak competed in track and field in Canada at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan) before transferring to the UA for triathlon.
While every practice won’t end with an impromptu photoshoot, it’s understandable that the Aug. 18 practice did for the Arizona triathlon team. It was the program’s first-ever practice since being initiated as the UA’s 22nd NCAA Division I varsity sport prior to this season.
That first practice a couple weeks ago likely wasn’t the same as those in the days since, or the many still to come. It ended with an impromptu photo shoot in the water, plenty of media attention on the pool deck, and Johnson remarking about his next important move once his athletes were done with their workouts.
Asked “what now” after they finished, Johnson said: “Taking them to breakfast.”
He was serious, in that what is arguably the former USA Triathlon national team coach’s top priority this early has little to do with athletic competition itself. It’s building a culture, he said.
“They’ve all just arrived, so we want to get them together and get them to know each other, having fun together. That’s just as important, if not more important,” he said of the task of not just fine-tuning their athletic exploits but helping a group that hails from seven different countries form a bond and become a true team in an otherwise individual sport. Arizona’s athletes hail from Argentina (freshman Sofi de Rosas), Brazil (junior Gabrielle Lemes), Canada (Lakustiak), Czech Republic (freshman Dana Prikrylová), Hungary (junior Laura Holánsky), Isle of Man (freshman Jazz Caley) and the United States (Reeder, Russell, Tuck and sophomore Kelly Lyn Wetteland).
Prikrylová, who arrived in the U.S. from Prague, Czech Republic, just two days before that first practice, described her travels and getting settled in Tucson as a whirlwind. But she was excited for the season to get going, even if it was so quickly.
“I’m so happy I have the opportunity to be here — to train here, study here, to enjoy time with the others,” she said.
Johnson said that much of his first year on the job has been spent traveling — often outside the U.S. — on recruiting trips.
“It’s a much, much bigger sport outside of the U.S., especially in Europe. I just went to the Junior World Championships, and there were half a million people on this course, spectating,” he said. “It’s just a mainstream sport there.
While, on Day 2 last month, Johnson and Bonney took their athletes to an open parking lot in town to jump on bikes for the first time in an effort to gauge comfortability and technique, the team’s somewhat limited inaugural competition schedule means such practice sessions and “off-field” activities might carry that much more weight in the long run.
In addition to Saturday’s meet at ASU, the Wildcats will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Battle of Fort Worth on Sept. 16 before the West Regional Championships in Springfield, Missouri, on Oct. 14. Then, it’s back to Tempe on Nov. 11, site of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Triathlon Championships. Currently, 42 women’s teams compete at the NCAA Division I level.
“Starting year one, I’m happy with the limited schedule,’ Johnson said. “You know, they all arrived her (days earlier), we had our first practice (Aug. 18) and our first competition is (Sept. 2). So I’m basically taking them where they’re at. My opportunity to develop these athletes is for the coming years.”
VIDEO: Arizona triathlon coach coach Wes Johnson mic’d up at a recent practice. (via Arizona Athletics YouTube)
VIDEO: Arizona triathlon team’s first-ever practice (via Arizona Athletics YouTube)
Assistant coach Jocelyn Bonney directs triathlon athletes as they finish up their drill, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Triathlon athletes take laps in the pool at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center during the first practice of the season,Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
The 2023-2024 University of Arizona triathlon team take a dip in the pool at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, women’s triathlon is the newest sport to be added to Arizona Athletics program, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Sofi de Rosas freshman triathlon athlete from Mendoza, Argentina puts paddles on for a swimming drill, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Dana Prikrylová looks at head coach Wesley Johnson as he directs the triathlon athletes through their next drill, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Kelly Lyn Wetteland sophomore triathlon athlete at the University of Arizona swims at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center with paddles on her hands during a drill led by head coach Wesley Johnson, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Triathlon athletes race to the ends of the pool during the first practice of the season, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Molly Lakustaik, left, Kelly Lyn Wetteland, middle, and Grace Reeder, right, cheer on their teammates as they finish their laps at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Head coach of the UA triathlon team Wesley Johnson, left, talks to assistant coach Jocelyn Bonney during the first practice of the season at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Triathlon athletes race to the ends of the pool during the first practice of the season, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Triathlon athletes race to the ends of the pool during the first practice of the season, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
A swimmer takes off in stride following the completion of her first lap at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
A swimmer takes off in stride after she completes her first lap at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
The triathlon team practices in the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Two triathlon athletes race toward the end of the pool during the first official practice of the season at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
One triathlon athlete flips off of the side while the other does a backstroke after making it to the end of the pool at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Kelly Lyn Wetteland UA sophomore triathlon athlete from Maryville swims to complete her lap at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
The first ever University of Arizona varsity triathlon team practice commences as swimmers begin to train at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Head Coach of the new triathlon team at the University of Arizona Wesley Johnson tells the athletes to give increase their performance by one percent each lap at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Dana Prikrylová at the first practice of the season, the freshman triathlon athlete came from Prague, Czech Republic to compete with the University of Arizona’s first women’s triathlon team, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Molly Lakustiak puts on her goggles before practice begins at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, the sophomore triathlon athlete at UA came from Regina, Saskatchewan to compete on the universities new team, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Grace Reeder, senior triathlon athlete at the University of Arizona watches as her teammates complete their laps at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, E Enke Dr, Tucson, Ariz., August 18, 2023.
Contact Brett Fera at [email protected]. On Twitter: @brettfera
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