Women's Triathlon To Participate In 3 Regional Qualifiers This Fall

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Women's Triathlon | 6/28/2018 11:30:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. - Three regional qualifying events compose the fall semester portion of the Daemen College women's triathlon team's 2018-19 schedule, head coach Jon Metz announced today. It will mark the first time in the team's four-year history that the Wildcats will partake in multiple regional qualifying events, and the fall slate will take them to Tennessee, Colorado and Virginia.

"This will be a fantastic season for our women's triathlon team," said Metz who has had the reins of the program since its inception. "We have arguably the most talented roster in the history of the program, and I am expecting big things this year. We are prepared to take our competitiveness to the next level."

The season gets underway with the Central Regional Qualifier hosted by East Tennessee State University in Watauga, Tenn. on Sunday, September 16. It'll mark the third straight season that the Wildcats will compete in the event, and they'll look to build upon prior success. In 2016, former Daemen triathlete Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) placed third out of 28 competitors at the event. Last fall, it was the collegiate debut for Daemen's Amber Custodi (Ransomville, N.Y.) who raced to a 15th place finish overall, second among participants from NCAA Division II programs.

One week later (Sunday, September 23), the Wildcats make their longest trek of the season - more than 1,500 miles - to the West Regional Qualifier in Longmont, Colo. The event is part of the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon put on by Without Limits Productions. Metz's team will be making its first-ever appearance at the West Regional Qualifier.

The trio of events concludes on Saturday, October 20 with the East Regional Qualifier in Huddleston, Va. The event is part of the Liberty Triathlon Festival put on by Kinetic Multisports. Again the Wildcats will be making their debut at the East Regional Qualifier, an event they were scheduled to participate in during the team's inaugural season (2015-16) before it was cancelled due to Hurricane Joaquin.

The schedule of regional qualifying events gives Daemen multiple opportunities to earn individual and/or team berths to the 2018 Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championship which is slated for Sunday, November 4 in Tempe, Arizona. At each regional qualifier, the top three five-woman NCAA varsity teams overall and the top NCAA varsity team in each division (if not already in the top three varsity teams overall) will automatically qualify for the national championship event. In addition, a minimum of the top five individual women in each event who are not already on a qualifying NCAA varsity team will earn pending qualification. Teams and individual athletes may only qualify once. If an athlete or team finishes in a qualifying position at a second or third event, that spot will roll down to the next eligible athlete or team.

Custodi returns to lead the way in 2018-19. As a redshirt freshman last season, she earned Division II All-Region Team and All-Region Freshman honors for her performance at the Central Regional Qualifier, one that qualified her to compete in the 2017 Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championship. She went on to place 44th out of a record 81 competitors there.

Metz has also added out-of-state recruits Nicole Schmidt (Vienna, Va.) and Lexi Christie (Manassas, Va.), as well as New York State product Jordan Hardie (Attica, N.Y.) to the mix for the 2018-19 season. At the time of her signing, Schmidt ranked 12th in the USA Triathlon national rankings for the 16-17 age group. Christie comes to Daemen after placing 30th at the 2017 USA Triathlon Junior Elite National Championship.

The spring portion of the team's 2018-19 schedule will be announced at a later date.

The sport of triathlon, which combines swimming, biking and running into a race-style event, was termed an Emerging Sport For Women by the NCAA in January of 2014, establishing a 10-year window for the formation of 40 intercollegiate programs. At present, according to USA Triathlon which oversees intercollegiate competitions, Daemen is one of 25 schools in the country (10 affiliated with NCAA Division II) to sponsor a varsity triathlon program for women.

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Cheff: 5' 1"; Graduate Student

Amber Custodi: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

Nicole Schmidt: 5' 5"; Freshman

Jordan Hardie: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ashley Cheff
: 5' 1"; Graduate Student

Amber Custodi
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

Nicole Schmidt
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Jordan Hardie
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore