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Posted: April 24, 2016:  

Triathlon: Colorado Golden in Collegiate Club Nationals for Seventh Straight Year

CLEMSON, S.C. -- The Buffaloes from the University of Colorado made it seven in a row on Saturday, earning the combined team title by a margin of 21 points at the 2016 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championships, and also earning the men's team title. UCLA picked up their third-straight women's team title and won the Mixed Team Relay.

The University of Colorado won their seventh straight team title. (Mario Cantu/CIMAGES)

Colorado scored 4,033 points in the combined team event, thanks to top-five finishes in back-to-back days from Brittany Warly and Dan Feeney. The Buffaloes have won the team title every year since 2010 and own a total of 17 combined team titles. UCLA was second overall after finishing third last year, earning a combined 4,012 points in large part through their women's team win. The U.S. Naval Academy finished third overall, and also won the Armed Forces team award.

Colorado's men scored 2,048 to best the rest of the men's teams in the event, and Navy finished second with 2,020 points with Brian Primeaux leading the way. The UCLA men finished third with 1,958 points after finishing outside of the top three last year. The UCLA women held on to their team title with a total of 2,054, with a solid lead over second place Queens University of Charlotte, who earned 1,987 points, and Colorado, who finished with 1,985 points.

Mike Meehan represented Penn State as the winner of the men's combined award with his two individual championship titles, scoring 600 points for a perfect score. Feeney was the men's combined silver medalist with 594 points, and Texas A&M's Michael Arishita was third with 590 points.

Erika Ackerlund notched a win for Montana with 596 points, ahead of Colorado's Brittany Warly in a tie-breaker (based on Olympic-distance race finish position). The pair finished just one point ahead of last year's combined women's champion Kelly Kosmo, who picked up 595 points in the closest combined individual race in the event's history.

Kosmo was also a member of the winning Mixed Team Relay team, along with her UCLA teammates Hannah Grubbs, Matt Stewart and Zach Jaeger. The UCLA team finished in 1:08:17, just 5 seconds ahead of the Arizona TriCats in second. Navy was third.

"It's sort of just a close of the weekend, and I was really happy with my races earlier today and yesterday. This was an opportunity to close out my final year as an undergraduate at UCLA," Kosmo said. "We've been through a lot this year as a team, so we were out there doing it for Coach Brady and for the team. I wanted to not let anyone down, and it's short enough you can really just go for it, not put too much thought into it and just go."

Overall, the Mixed Team Relay event included 66 teams, the most in the relay's five year history. Between all three collegiate races, a record 132 schools were represented over the weekend.

Complete results from all events from Collegiate Club Nationals, including the traditional Olympic-distance race and Friday's Draft-Legal Collegiate Championships, will be available here.

2016 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championships
Awards
Draft-Legal Collegiate Championships

Men's Overall
1. Mike Meehan (Penn State), 53:16
2. Dan Feeney (Colorado), 53:32
3. John Felix (Clemson), 53:45
4. Dylan Morgan (West Point), 54:03
5. Michael Arishita (Texas A&M), 54:11
Women's Overall
1. Brittany Warly (Colorado), 1:00:34
2. Erika Ackerlund (Montana), 1:01:12
3. Kelly Kosmo (UCLA), 1:01:47
4. Melissa Rios La Luz (Webber International), 1:02:44
5. Melissa Teeple (Marymount), 1:02:53
Collegiate Club National Championships (Olympic-distance)
Men's Overall
1. Mike Meehan (Penn State), 1:58:24
2. Sean Harrington (UCSB), 1:59:11
3. Michael Arishita (Texas A&M), 1:59:50
4. Collin Chartier (Marymount), 1:59:53
5. Dan Feeney (Colorado), 2:00:41
Women's Overall
1. Erica Clevenger (Arizona), 2:15:50
2. Kelly Kosmo (UCLA), 2:16:10
3. Erika Ackerlund (Montana), 2:16:31
4. Laura Haley (Arizona), 2:18:40
5. Brittany Warly (Colorado), 2:18:47
Collegiate Paratriathlon National Champion
1. Newton Nguyen (California), 1:22:08 
Men's Combined Award
1. Mike Meehan (Penn State), 600
2. Dan Feeney (Colorado), 594
3. Michael Arishita (Texas A&M), 590
Women's Combined Award
1. Erika Ackerlund (Montana), 596*
2. Brittany Warly (Colorado), 596
3. Kelly Kosmo (UCLA), 595
Overall Team Standings 
1. Colorado, 4,033
2. UCLA, 4,012
3. Navy, 3,995
4. Texas A&M, 3,867
5. California, 3,855
Women's Team Standings 
1. UCLA, 2,054
2. Queens University of Charlotte, 1,987
3. Colorado, 1,985
4. Navy, 1,975
5. California, 1,961
Men's Team Standings
1. Colorado, 2,048
2. Navy, 2,020
3. UCLA, 1,958
4. Texas A&M, 1,935 
5. West Point, 1,922
Mixed Team Relay
1. UCLA, 1:08:17 
2. Arizona, 1:08:22
3. Navy, 1:08:54                                           
Armed Services Team Champions: Navy 
Team Spirit Award: Oregon State
*tie-breaker - higher Olympic-distance result wins the tie

About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon and paratriathlon in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,300 races and connects with nearly 500,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work with athletes, coaches and race directors on the grassroots level, USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of the ITU and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).


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