RESULTS | Clermont Draft Legal Challenge results
 
Wingate, N.C.----NCAA teams use their non-championship season to fine tune and plan for the upcoming season. The defending national champion Wingate University women's triathlon team is no exception, as they competed in the recent Clermont (Fla.) Draft Legal Challenge to get a glimpse of the future.
 
The Bulldogs had a great Saturday and Sunday, as Wingate defeated nine NCAA Division I and Division II schools to take home the Clermont Draft Legal Challenge title. Arizona State, Delaware State, Denver, Duquesne, East Tennessee State, Lenoir-Rhyne, Navy, San Francisco and St. Thomas Aquinas sent student-athletes to the March 1-2 Challenge.
 
The Wingate University athletic communications office caught up with women's triathlon head coach Nick Radkewich to find out what the team accomplished in its early March competition (an edited transcript follows).
 
What They Are Saying
Wingate women's triathlon head coach Nick Radkewich …
 
"Race together as a team"
 
"Clermont is the best NCAA racing opportunity in the spring…and we took advantage of it to build on the momentum from last fall's national championship. The plan was to race those returning next fall to give them a chance to race together as a team, which they hadn't done."
 
"We raced freshmen Babette van Rooyen, Paula Auschill and Rebecca Nolan, sophomores Pia Diemer, Grace Nolan and Sophie Burger and junior Katja Krenn. Sadly, East Region Freshman of the Year Irmak Şereflioğlu came down with the flu and couldn't travel; otherwise, it was a snapshot of what next fall's title defense will look like."  
 
"Unique opportunities"
 
Clermont is unique because they get the opportunity to race super sprint format races Saturday and Sunday…so we get to test out some new strategies in day one and then hopefully perfect them on day two. Grace Nolan and Babette van Rooyen alternated leading the squad over the two days. It was great to see them at the front of the swim with Sophie Burger and Rebecca Nolan right behind them."
 
"National Freshman of the Year Paula Auschill had a very strong run on day two along with Katja Krenn. Pia Diemer had her strongest outing yet as a Bulldog, showing that her work on the swim is paying dividends. We look forward to what she can do for the squad next fall."
 
"The team overcame a lot of challenges during the trip and tough competition to claim the team title and now look forward to summer racing at home and the start of training August 16 as we look to defend the national championship in November."
 
Wingate University
 
Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 26 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 16 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
 
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