Sophomores spearheading Dutch triathlon squad
PELLA—A trio of sophomores with national meet experience are ready to pace the Central College women’s triathlon team in 2023.
Grace Benson (sophomore, Newton), Taylor Jones (sophomore, Knoxville) and Luci Laidlaw (sophomore, Pella) all travelled to Tempe, Arizona last November to compete in the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships as freshmen.
“I’m very excited for this season,” coach Jennie Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “After seeing the Division I and I schools race at the regional qualifier and at nationals, the team knows how they need to push themselves to compete and finish against competition from all three divisions.”
Benson ran the fastest sprint triathlon time in the program’s three-year history with a time of 1 hour, 14 minutes and 37 seconds at the Millikin Division III Invitational last September. She was an honorable mention for All-American honors after finishing 17th in Division III.
“I think she’s going to have a little extra drive to be an All-American,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “She’s going to set the pace most of the time in all three disciplines coming into the season. She’s going to push everyone to stay with her and then push herself to go faster in the process.”
Laidlaw looks to be ready for another step forward this fall after training hard all summer and competing at open triathlons. She her fastest time of last season (1:24.48) at the West Regional Qualifier on October 15.
“She’s fallen in love with the sport of triathlon,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “Her physical ability and athleticism have improved tremendously. She’s trained her heart out all summer.”
Jones will once again be splitting her time between soccer and triathlon. Injuries limited her to one draft-legal event last year but she was across the line in 1:26.38 and in 35th place at the national meet. She was sixth in the women’s open division at the team’s non-traditional spring event in Sioux Center.
“I knew she’d fall in love with it once she started doing it,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “We’re still figuring out when she can train and compete with us but she’s excited to be back.”
The program’s lone newcomer is freshman Addie Smith (Monmouth, Ill., Monmouth-Roseville HS). The experienced triathlete even brought her own bike to campus to compete.
“Her previously triathlon experience was not at draft-legal events but it’s still really good experience,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “She’s a strong biker and should be able to push the rest of our team in that area.”
The fifth member of the team, Summer Brand (senior, Mount Vernon) is back on campus this fall after battling lymphoma all of 2022-23. She won’t be competing but still provides a veteran presence.
“Having her back is going to be huge for the team, even if it’s just as a student coach,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said.
The schedule for the Dutch is similar to last year, featuring three regular season competitions before the regional qualifier and the national meet to close out the year. The biggest change to the schedule is the regional qualifier is now an all-divisions competition, meaning Central will race against schools like Division I Arizona State University
“It’s going to be interesting to see how that goes,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “They are going to race and score it as an overall competition, but they are going to hand out awards for NCAA Divisions I, II and III. We definitely have the tougher of the two regionals.”
The new format will make it more difficult to qualify for nationals but so will the rule that athletes must complete the qualifier to compete at the national meet. Previously, if a team qualified at the regional than any member of the team could compete at nationals regardless.
“I like the new rule,” Hedrick-Rozenberg said. “There’s not really an exception even if you have an accident with your bike. It will make the regional meet even more competitive.”
The preseason training is well underway in advance of the team’s opening action in a home exhibition with Coe on Tuesday, August 29. Hedrick-Rozenberg is hoping to keep things loose as they train.
“The team does so much better when they have fun,” she said. “We’re going to have practices a little less structured but we’re still going to have some of the same workouts we do every year to serve as checkpoints throughout the season and from year-to-year.”
The exhibition with Coe will start at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Roberts Creek Park just West of Pella
