TEMPE, Ariz. -- Cliff English knows every crack on the road to the 2018 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship. The Sun Devil coach rides the course every day as he commutes to and from ASU's campus on his cycle.
"It has really been sinking in that this is happening," English said as he paused along that very course for a phone interview on Friday evening. "Not only are we the defending champions but we're hosting the national championship and everyone is looking at us. Everyone wants to beat us."
A record field of more than 80 student-athletes representing 11 varsity and 10 club teams will compete at the event this Sunday in Tempe. The race begins at 10:30 a.m. at Tempe Town Lake, and features a sprint-distance 750-meter swim, a draft-legal 20-kilometer bike race and a 5-kilometer run.
Although, the Sun Devils will be without 2016 national runner-up Katie Gorczyca due to an injury suffered during a crash at the Eastern Regional Qualifier on Oct. 7, they are still the team to beat. The Sun Devils won the Central and Eastern regional qualifiers and finished second at the Western Regional Qualifier.
Sophomores Charlotte Ahrens, Sarah Quintero, Delaney Bucker, and freshmen Kyla Roy, Hannah Henry, Rebecca Naughton and Grace Obando will represent the Devils in the main race. Alumna Amy Darlington, sophomores Kendal Williams, Lillie Robinson and freshman Catherine Giuseffi will compete in the open race.
"We've been practicing the course already so it's super exciting thinking about it," Henry said. "It's pretty cool that ASU was able to win (a national championship) so fast. We want to keep that going."
Winning is foremost in English's mind. It's his job to win and elevate ASU to the top of the collegiate heap, but the accomplished national coach has a bigger purpose in mind. He wants to grow the sport on the collegiate level until it is NCAA sanctioned.
Forty schools are required to meet that NCAA threshold and collegiate triathlon just secured its 18th school, with verbal commitments from about eight more. Sunday's event is serving as a showcase for the sport.
"We know that by hosting it, we have taken on the job of doing an event that is bigger than it has ever been done before," English said. "By providing a higher standard of race we can really push it forward. At the Olympic and World Cup levels, the organizations are like Swiss timing. They are incredible and we wanted to set that same standard."
English and the ASU organizing committee that includes senior associate athletic director Deana Garner-Smith and associate athletic director Bill Kennedy, are getting help from USA Triathlon, the sports governing body, and an old friend, former Sun Devil Athletics Chief Operating Officer Rocky Harris, who is now USA Triathlon's CEO.
"I think this aligns with [Vice President for University Athletics] Ray Anderson's overall vision," Harris said. "He wants to compete for championships, of course, but he also wants to make Tempe and ASU the host for as many national championship as possible."
The greater Phoenix area has hosted its share of recent men's basketball and football national championships at University of Phoenix Stadium, but it has been a while since Tempe hosted one.
Sun Devil Stadium hosted the 1998 and 2002 BCS Championship games, and Karsten Golf Course hosted the NCAA Women's Golf Championship in 1992.
"There aren't many communities with the weather we have and the market size and the tourist attractions," Harris said of his alma mater. "When you think about golf, triathlon, sports like that, Ray wants ASU to be at the forefront of those events."
English said the organizing committee invited 12-15 senior administrators from schools that have not yet added the sport to showcase triathlon.
"It's a very easy sport to add," English said. "There's not much facility build you need. The roster can be as small as six to eight to make an impact, and with USA Triathlon's ($2.6 million) emerging sport fund (ASU got a $143,000 grant), it covers a lot of the cost like coaching salaries and equipment."
Sun Devil Athletics planned a host of events for this weekend including a reception and a Title IX panel discussion on the impact the landmark legislation has had on women's sports. When he goes to bed on Saturday, however, English's thoughts will be consumed by the race.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "We've got lots of options for some tactics and the girls have been working well together.
"I've been around racing a long time and I know nothing is guaranteed, but they've done the work and a lot them seem to be in a good mental place. I know they're ready."
"It has really been sinking in that this is happening," English said as he paused along that very course for a phone interview on Friday evening. "Not only are we the defending champions but we're hosting the national championship and everyone is looking at us. Everyone wants to beat us."
A record field of more than 80 student-athletes representing 11 varsity and 10 club teams will compete at the event this Sunday in Tempe. The race begins at 10:30 a.m. at Tempe Town Lake, and features a sprint-distance 750-meter swim, a draft-legal 20-kilometer bike race and a 5-kilometer run.
Although, the Sun Devils will be without 2016 national runner-up Katie Gorczyca due to an injury suffered during a crash at the Eastern Regional Qualifier on Oct. 7, they are still the team to beat. The Sun Devils won the Central and Eastern regional qualifiers and finished second at the Western Regional Qualifier.
Sophomores Charlotte Ahrens, Sarah Quintero, Delaney Bucker, and freshmen Kyla Roy, Hannah Henry, Rebecca Naughton and Grace Obando will represent the Devils in the main race. Alumna Amy Darlington, sophomores Kendal Williams, Lillie Robinson and freshman Catherine Giuseffi will compete in the open race.
"We've been practicing the course already so it's super exciting thinking about it," Henry said. "It's pretty cool that ASU was able to win (a national championship) so fast. We want to keep that going."
Winning is foremost in English's mind. It's his job to win and elevate ASU to the top of the collegiate heap, but the accomplished national coach has a bigger purpose in mind. He wants to grow the sport on the collegiate level until it is NCAA sanctioned.
Forty schools are required to meet that NCAA threshold and collegiate triathlon just secured its 18th school, with verbal commitments from about eight more. Sunday's event is serving as a showcase for the sport.
"We know that by hosting it, we have taken on the job of doing an event that is bigger than it has ever been done before," English said. "By providing a higher standard of race we can really push it forward. At the Olympic and World Cup levels, the organizations are like Swiss timing. They are incredible and we wanted to set that same standard."
English and the ASU organizing committee that includes senior associate athletic director Deana Garner-Smith and associate athletic director Bill Kennedy, are getting help from USA Triathlon, the sports governing body, and an old friend, former Sun Devil Athletics Chief Operating Officer Rocky Harris, who is now USA Triathlon's CEO.
"I think this aligns with [Vice President for University Athletics] Ray Anderson's overall vision," Harris said. "He wants to compete for championships, of course, but he also wants to make Tempe and ASU the host for as many national championship as possible."
The greater Phoenix area has hosted its share of recent men's basketball and football national championships at University of Phoenix Stadium, but it has been a while since Tempe hosted one.
Sun Devil Stadium hosted the 1998 and 2002 BCS Championship games, and Karsten Golf Course hosted the NCAA Women's Golf Championship in 1992.
"There aren't many communities with the weather we have and the market size and the tourist attractions," Harris said of his alma mater. "When you think about golf, triathlon, sports like that, Ray wants ASU to be at the forefront of those events."
English said the organizing committee invited 12-15 senior administrators from schools that have not yet added the sport to showcase triathlon.
"It's a very easy sport to add," English said. "There's not much facility build you need. The roster can be as small as six to eight to make an impact, and with USA Triathlon's ($2.6 million) emerging sport fund (ASU got a $143,000 grant), it covers a lot of the cost like coaching salaries and equipment."
Sun Devil Athletics planned a host of events for this weekend including a reception and a Title IX panel discussion on the impact the landmark legislation has had on women's sports. When he goes to bed on Saturday, however, English's thoughts will be consumed by the race.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "We've got lots of options for some tactics and the girls have been working well together.
"I've been around racing a long time and I know nothing is guaranteed, but they've done the work and a lot them seem to be in a good mental place. I know they're ready."