Gulfport, Miss.----The Wingate men's triathlon team is competing this weekend at the 2026 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championship. The eight men who made the trip to the Magnolia State hope to defend their 2025 national title.
Weekend Outlook
Two races are on the Bulldogs' calendars for this weekend's event. The first is the draft-legal sprint that consists of a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run, followed by the non-draft-legal Olympic distance, which consists of a 1500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and a 10-kilometer run. Team scoring is determined through points tallied from each team's top finisher in the draft-legal sprint event and top four finishers in the non-draft-legal Olympic-distance event.
Race Roster
Friday at 12:45 p.m. EDT, veteran Luis Steiert (Munchen, Germany) and rising-star Isaac Lamprecht (Fairfield, Pa.) will be the first in action in the draft-legal sprint distance event. This will be Steiert's second shot at draft-legal nationals glory; his first draft-legal start came in a sixth-place finish in 2023. It is Lamprecht's debut in the collegiate nationals draft-legal discipline.
Saturday at 8:15 a.m. EDT, the weekend finale in the non-draft-legal Olympic-distance event begins. Leading the Bulldogs into Saturday are back-to-back racers Lamprecht and Steiert, who obtained fifth- and 10th-place finishes, respectively, on their way to the 2025 national team title.
The other returning national champions include DPT3 student Jake Baugher (Mooresville, N.C.), who is a multiple-time All-American; senior captain Charlie Smoak (Little Rock, Ark.), who finished 12th in 2025; and junior Oliver Nissen (Kiel, Germany), who finished 21st in 2025.
Three Bulldogs are making their nationals debuts. The newbies include freshmen Lucas Wright (Ellicott City, Md.), Jackson Foster (Frederick, Md.) and Matteo Somma (Malverne, N.Y.). The terrific trio were MACTC all-conference finishers this past October.
What They Are Saying
WU head coach Nick Radkewich
"The men's team has prepared well for nationals since returning to campus in January. The eight-man squad representing the Bulldogs has been consistent and very focused in training. After winning their third MACTC Conference title in the fall, they switched gears to improve to defend their national title from Miami last spring."
"Isaac and Luis will start the championship weekend Friday, March 27 in the draft-legal spring race and then return Saturday, March 28 with the rest of the squad to compete in the Olympic distance non-drafting race. Most of our student-triathletes come from a draft-legal background, but this year I feel they have made the Olympic-distance race a priority and we have seen it in their training and equipment selection. I am very excited to see how we race in Gulfport, Mississippi this weekend."
WU student-triathlete Matteo Somma, on weekend goals and defending the '25 title
"This weekend, I hope to represent Wingate to my best abilities and help my team out. What this means for me is being one of the team's top scorers and also placing high in the competition."
"The responsibility of defending the national title is one that I am keeping on the forefront of my mind. I really hope to play my part in the race to help the team secure another national-championship crown. Although this is a daunting challenge, I am looking forward to giving it my all to help my team out."
WU student-triathlete Isaac Lamprecht, on the draft-legal event and back-to-back races
"Friday, I hope to be able to put together a great swim that will allow me to be in a position to win. Honestly, I think there is not that much pressure, because I trust all the guys and I know if I can't put it together exactly, then the guys around me will."
"My races do overlap a little bit, but the emphasis has to change a little from doing a draft-legal sprint to a non-draft Olympic. The swim will be much more important on day 1 in the sprint, whereas on day 2, I need to put much more emphasis on having a strong bike and then a strong run."
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 30 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 17 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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(Editor's note: Senior exercise science major Charlie Smoak contributed this article. Smoak is a four-year member of the WU triathlon team who helped the Bulldogs win the 2025 national championship.)
