TEMPE, Ariz. – The Trine University women's triathlon team extended their streak to six seasons finishing in the top two at the Collegiate Triathlon National Championships, coming in second at the 2026 edition of the race. Hailey Sills led the team with a fifth-place finish while head coach Stacy Smith earned Coach of the Year honors.
    photo courtesy of CowboyHat Productions
Prior to the race, it was determined that water conditions were unsuitable for swimming and national championship was converted to a duathlon, featuring a run-bike-run format. Three waves of student-athletes, representing all three NCAA divisions, competed on the day, with the Thunder spread across the second and third wave.
North Central College claimed their fifth consecutive national championship with 705 points in the event. The Thunder took second with 563 points and Central College rounded out the podium with 379 points. The top ten finishers in the race all came from either North Central or Trine, four for the Thunder and six for the Cardinals.
Sills paced the Thunder with a time of 1:12:03, taking fifth as an individual. Tessa Szymanski (1:13:00), Lia Bartholomew (1:13:11) and Alyssa Seiter (1:15:14) rounded out the top ten in order. Aubrey Metzger came in at 12th with a time of 1:15:45 before Carmen Blaine (1:19:29) and Ella Bartholomew (1:21:30) rounded out the delegation in 19th and 21st respectively.
This is the fifth season that Smith has led the program after serving as an assistant during the team's 2021 National Championship season. The team has never finished lower than second at the national meet under her guidance. A member of the team has also always finished top five as an individual at the event.
