Gulfport, MS- The NKU men's triathlon team is in final preparation to compete at USAT's Collegiate Club National Championship (CCNC) in Gulfport, MS this weekend.  The Norse will have a total of five student athletes competing over the two-day event.  Friday March 27th will be the Men's Draft Legal National Championship where Toby Martin will be competing for the Norse.  The draft legal sprint distance will consist of a 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run.  Friday's race will begin at 11:45am CST.  

Saturday March 28th at 7:15am CST the Olympic distance race begins where five Norse athletes will be competing in the Olympic distance triathlon.  Max Marion, Toby Martin, Fred Smal, Sean Smyth, and Jude Woodruff will all be racing the Olympic distance which consists of a 1500m swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.  The scoring for the weekend will include up to 1 score from the draft legal race and then your top 4 finishers count in the team standings.  Scored similar to cross country where lowest team score wins.   

The men's triathlon team is competing at their second ever national championship after a 60th place team finish at last year's CCNC.  The 2025 fall season included finishing 2nd overall in the Mideast Collegiate Triathlon Conference (MECTC) and the team looks to take that momentum into the warm and humidity of Mississippi .  Coach Doughtie has summed up their preparation, "We have a very young team this season with one senior and 4 newcomers qualifying for this national championship. My number one goal for this year is to go out there and compete as this group can really gain a lot of valuable experience and knowledge from this weekend.  They've done a great job preparing this winter to go out there and put Norse Triathlon on the map now and in the coming years!"

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