Olympic sports on, triathlon off
The Pac-12 reaffirmed Friday its intention to play conference-only seasons in men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country.
Competitions will begin no earlier than the weekend of Sept. 26 with practices for those teams allowed starting Aug. 15.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said schedules for the fall Olympic sports will be announced soon. “We will have robust conference schedules in those sports and look for exciting postseason opportunities,” Scott said.
In recent seasons, women’s volleyball has played 20 conference matches and women’s soccer 11. The cross country season includes a Pac-12 championship meet before regionals and nationals. Arizona State and Arizona do not sponsor men’s soccer.
Fall triathlon season canceled
Arizona State triathlon will not have a chance to win a fifth consecutive national title in the NCAA emerging sport at least in the fall.
USA Triathlon and the College Triathlon Coaches Association board of directors announced Friday that the fall season is being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. A spring season still is possible.
The national championships were to be held Nov. 14 in Tempe following three regional qualifiers, scheduled to start Sept. 5.
“The CTCA came to a unanimous decision to cancel the season,” CTCA president Jennifer Garrison said. “The board came to this decision after thoroughly reviewing the current situation in which many athletes and teams will be unable to compete based on restrictions set by their schools and conferences.
“We strongly feel that our women’s triathlon movement to the NCAA is as strong as ever. With that in mind, we are considering all of our options for the possibility of a spring season.”
Tim Yount, USA Triathlon chief sport development officer, said, “The health and safety of our athletes must come first. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the collegiate landscape in profound ways and the most important priority for our athletes right now is their education. We look forward to seeing our athletes achieve great things when we can meet again.”
USA Triathlon is working to increase the number of varsity programs to 40 by 2024 or before, allowing for it to become a fully sponsored NCAA sport. Since 2014, 36 schools at various divisions have added women’s triathlon, none more successfully than ASU.
If a triathlon season is not held in the spring, ASU triathletes could redshirt to preserve a year of eligibility like what the ASU men’s and women’s swimming teams are doing in 2020-21.