Navy Women’s Triathlon Finishes Fourth in Historic Inaugural Home Race
The Navy women’s triathlon program made history Sunday morning in Annapolis, hosting its first home competition and finishing fourth in a highly competitive 10-team Navy Collegiate Cup. The Midshipmen scored 226 points, finishing only one point behind third-place San Francisco and remaining within striking distance of eventual champion TCU. TCU won the event with 286 points, followed by Duquesne with 278 and San Francisco with 227.
The historic competition did not unfold exactly as Navy originally planned because unsafe water conditions forced officials to cancel the scheduled 750-meter swim. Instead of the traditional swim-bike-run format, the race became a duathlon featuring an opening run of approximately 2.4 kilometers, a 20-kilometer bike segment and a 5-kilometer run. That change added another challenge for the 64-athlete field and placed additional importance on running strength and quick transitions.
Heine Leads Navy With Fifth-Place Finish
Freshman Allison Heine continued an impressive start to her collegiate career by leading Navy with a fifth-place overall finish. Heine completed the course in 1:00:42, putting her among the best competitors in a strong field that included athletes from several of the nation’s top programs. She was particularly impressive during the final 5-kilometer run, recording Navy’s fastest split of the day at 17:12.
Heine finished only 22 seconds behind Delaware State’s Rebecca Jansen for third place and just seven seconds behind TCU’s Stefania Salazar Urvayova for fourth. Duquesne’s Daria Ermolova won the individual competition with a time of 58:23, while San Francisco’s Tallulah Wright finished second at 59:56. Jansen took third at 1:00:20 before Salazar and Heine completed the top five.
Navy Shows Depth Throughout Field
Madelyn Berry provided another strong performance for the Midshipmen, finishing 13th overall in 1:01:35. Dylan Cashin followed with a 24th-place finish at 1:02:28, while Leah Norton crossed the line 28th in 1:02:53. Keira Wilkinson finished right behind Norton in 29th place with a time of 1:03:03, giving Navy several competitors packed relatively closely together.
Team captain MC Kistler finished 30th overall in 1:03:10 and delivered Navy’s fastest bike split of the competition. Kistler completed the bike portion in 33:33, helping Navy remain competitive despite problems elsewhere on the course. Allison Miller finished 34th in 1:03:45, Julia Lisa placed 49th at 1:05:48 and Ella Sims rounded out Navy’s finishers in 56th at 1:11:26.
Wang’s Strong Start Ends With Mechanical Problem
One of the biggest stories of the competition involved junior Natalie Wang, who entered the home meet after an outstanding September. Wang posted Navy’s fastest opening run Sunday at 8:19 and raced among the top three competitors early in the event. Unfortunately for Navy, a mechanical problem with her bike during the final lap prevented Wang from completing the race.
The result was particularly disappointing considering Wang had emerged as one of Navy’s top performers entering the Navy Collegiate Cup. She finished third among 106 competitors at the Beaver County Collegiate Cup before recording a runner-up finish at the Robious Landing Collegiate Cup one day later. Her time of 57:49 at Robious Landing was the second-fastest performance in program history and earned her NAAA Athlete of the Week honors.
Wang’s mechanical issue also helps put Navy’s fourth-place team finish into perspective. The Midshipmen finished only one point behind San Francisco despite losing one of their strongest athletes from the scoring picture. Head coach Billy Edwards noted afterward that a mechanical issue and a crash involving the lead pack affected Navy’s chances, but he was pleased with how aggressively his team competed.
A Historic Day for Navy Triathlon
Sunday represented another significant milestone for a Navy program that only began varsity competition in 2023. The Naval Academy announced the Navy Collegiate Cup as the first home competition in program history, taking advantage of the Academy’s unique waterfront setting to bring collegiate triathlon directly to Annapolis. Although conditions prevented the swimming portion from taking place, Navy still successfully hosted a field featuring 10 programs.
The competition also showed how quickly Navy has progressed since its inaugural varsity season. The Midshipmen entered their home finale after winning both the Beaver County Collegiate Cup and Robious Landing Collegiate Cup on consecutive days in September. Navy scored 485 points to edge Duquesne at Beaver County before another deep performance produced the victory at Robious Landing, giving the program consecutive collegiate cup championships after entering that weekend with only one such victory in program history.
That progress made Sunday’s result more encouraging than the fourth-place finish might initially suggest. TCU had four athletes finish inside the top eight and ultimately accumulated 286 points, giving the Horned Frogs enough depth to secure the championship. Navy still finished just one point outside the top three while dealing with Wang’s mechanical problem, demonstrating that the Midshipmen can compete against high-level programs when postseason racing begins.
Final Team Standings
TCU captured the Navy Collegiate Cup with 286 points, followed by Duquesne with 278 and San Francisco with 227. Navy finished fourth with 226 points, while Delaware State rounded out the top five with 167. Denver finished sixth with 160, East Tennessee State seventh with 144, La Salle eighth with 133, Wagner ninth with 45 and Eastern Mennonite 10th with seven points.
The extremely narrow gap between Navy and San Francisco makes the result even more notable. One additional scoring position could have pushed the Midshipmen onto the podium, while a clean race from Wang potentially could have changed the team standings much more dramatically. Instead, Navy will have to settle for fourth place while taking plenty of positives from its first opportunity to race on its home grounds.
Postseason Up Next
Navy now turns its attention toward postseason competition following an eventful regular season. The Midshipmen will travel to Lake Lanier, Georgia, for the NCAA East Regional Qualifier on Saturday, Oct. 17, with competition scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The regional meet will provide Navy an opportunity to turn its strong regular-season performances into postseason success.
The Midshipmen have already shown they possess both individual talent and considerable depth throughout the roster. Heine has quickly developed into a major contributor as a freshman, while Wang has demonstrated the ability to contend near the front of elite fields when healthy and mechanically sound. With Berry, Cashin, Kistler, Wilkinson and the remainder of the roster providing additional depth, Navy has legitimate momentum heading into the NCAA postseason.
MSB Take
Navy did not get the podium finish it wanted in its first home race, but Sunday’s result should still be viewed as another important step forward for the program. Finishing one point outside the top three while one of the team’s best athletes was unable to complete the race because of a mechanical problem demonstrates how competitive the Midshipmen have become. Hosting the first home meet in program history also gives Navy another building block as it continues establishing itself on the national collegiate triathlon scene.
The biggest positive may have been Heine, whose fifth-place performance provided another indication that Navy has a potential star developing in Annapolis. Combine her emergence with Wang’s proven ability near the front of the field and the depth Navy demonstrated throughout September, and this is a team capable of making noise in the postseason. The inaugural Navy Collegiate Cup was an important moment regardless of the final standings, but the Midshipmen now have an opportunity to make an even bigger statement at the NCAA East Regional Qualifier.
