TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State women's triathlon successfully defended their national championship, taking first place as a team to register four-straight national titles as a program on Saturday afternoon at the Tempe Town Lake. The Sun Devils placed two on the podium en route to the victory including Kyla Roy, who registered her first ever individual national championship today at the 2019 Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships.
"The pressure builds every year we win a national title, and the girls did amazing today," coach Cliff English said. "I'm incredibly proud of this team and they earned it in a big way today that's for sure."
English's all-underclassmen squad showed veteran knowledge today with the junior Roy leading the charge, finishing with a total time of 1:05:22 for the victory. Roy was the third woman out of the water among Division I triathletes, moving into second place after the bike portion. The Canadian used the run portion to her advantage, edging out teammate Audrey Ernst to take first overall crossing the finish line. Roy's victory was not out of the ordinary this season as she took first place in both regional qualifiers she participated in in 2019.
"I'm incredibly proud of Kyla because we talk a lot about doing something special and being your own hero," English said. "It's huge that we have depth with a young team because a lot of the girls are going to have unfinished business and be seniors next year who will be hungry to improve."
Ernst followed closely behind Roy this afternoon, finishing in second place with a time of 1:05:52, just 30 seconds behind Roy. Rebecca Naughton (1:08:02) and Liberty Ricca (1:08:17) finished not far behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with Ricca's spectacular performance also granting her the USA Triathlon Division I Freshman of the Year honor. The honor marks the third-straight season in three seasons of coaches voting on the award in which a Sun Devil was named Freshman of the Year.
"I'm really proud of Rebecca for bringing it home as our third finisher to score for us and help us to win the team title again." English said. "All of the girls went to their limits, and I'm incredibly proud of them."
Catherine Giuseffi (13th) and Kira Stanley (16th) rounded out the finishing Sun Devils today, with their places securing the team win for ASU.
"We're still where we need to be," English said. "We have such a great team with great depth and we're going to keep working and pushing."
"The pressure builds every year we win a national title, and the girls did amazing today," coach Cliff English said. "I'm incredibly proud of this team and they earned it in a big way today that's for sure."
That's right, we went BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK ??@kylaroytri takes the individual title while @ernstpink3 follows her in second place to round out the podium Devils! pic.twitter.com/d0slG0oVdH
— Sun Devil Triathlon (@sundeviltri) November 16, 2019
English's all-underclassmen squad showed veteran knowledge today with the junior Roy leading the charge, finishing with a total time of 1:05:22 for the victory. Roy was the third woman out of the water among Division I triathletes, moving into second place after the bike portion. The Canadian used the run portion to her advantage, edging out teammate Audrey Ernst to take first overall crossing the finish line. Roy's victory was not out of the ordinary this season as she took first place in both regional qualifiers she participated in in 2019.
"I'm incredibly proud of Kyla because we talk a lot about doing something special and being your own hero," English said. "It's huge that we have depth with a young team because a lot of the girls are going to have unfinished business and be seniors next year who will be hungry to improve."
Ernst followed closely behind Roy this afternoon, finishing in second place with a time of 1:05:52, just 30 seconds behind Roy. Rebecca Naughton (1:08:02) and Liberty Ricca (1:08:17) finished not far behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with Ricca's spectacular performance also granting her the USA Triathlon Division I Freshman of the Year honor. The honor marks the third-straight season in three seasons of coaches voting on the award in which a Sun Devil was named Freshman of the Year.
This lead group is FLYING as Audrey Ernst and Kyla Roy of @sundeviltri start to push the pace. Two-time defending champion Hannah Henry (@sundeviltri), Kira Stanley (@sundeviltri) and @SDCoyotes Leah Drengenberg trying to hang on. They have over a minute on the chasers. #ncaatri pic.twitter.com/C8dcsMAB6z
— USA Triathlon Live Event Coverage (@USATlive) November 16, 2019
"I'm really proud of Rebecca for bringing it home as our third finisher to score for us and help us to win the team title again." English said. "All of the girls went to their limits, and I'm incredibly proud of them."
Catherine Giuseffi (13th) and Kira Stanley (16th) rounded out the finishing Sun Devils today, with their places securing the team win for ASU.
"We're still where we need to be," English said. "We have such a great team with great depth and we're going to keep working and pushing."