COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—USA Triathlon and the College Triathlon Coaches Association (CTCA) Board of Directors have announced that the fall 2020 women's collegiate triathlon season has been canceled due to ongoing precautions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
USA Triathlon and the CTCA are exploring the possibility of hosting a collegiate triathlon season in the spring of 2021, and additional details will be communicated at a later date.
 
"Obviously, we are disappointed that we will not have a National Championship this fall, but I fully support USAT's and CTCA's decision to cancel our fall championship," said USD head coach Kyle Joplin. "Our first responsibility is to our athletes and their safety. This decision was made with their best interest in mind."
 
The fall slate was initially scheduled to include three regional qualifiers – Sept. 5 in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; Sept. 26 in Branson, Missouri; and Oct. 17 in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia – and the Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships on Nov. 14 in Tempe, Arizona.
 
All four events have been canceled in order to limit cross-state travel and ensure a fair playing field for all athletes and teams.
 
"While canceling events is never ideal, the health and safety of our athletes and teams must come first," said Tim Yount, USA Triathlon Chief Sport Development Officer. "The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the collegiate landscape in profound ways, and the most important priority for our student-athletes right now is their education. We are disappointed that we won't be able to gather at the races this fall, but we look forward to seeing our athletes achieve great things when we can meet again."
 
The Coyote triathlon team will return to campus later this month, as in-person classes are scheduled to resume at the University of South Dakota on Aug. 19.
 
"The team is still very excited to get back to campus and get back to work," said Joplin. "In addition to training, this fall will allow us to focus on academics."
 
South Dakota added women's triathlon in November of 2017 and was slated to enter its third competitive season in 2020. The Coyotes were the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Runners-Up the past two seasons. Leah Drengenberg became South Dakota's first All-American in triathlon last fall with a third-place finish at the national meet.
 
The NCAA named triathlon an Emerging Sport for Women in 2014, a designation that gives USA Triathlon a 10-year window to demonstrate the sport's sustainability at the NCAA level by recruiting at least 40 varsity programs. The governing body is quickly approaching that goal with momentum on its side, as 28 schools have added the sport since January of 2017, and the total count has now reached 36.