The North Central College women’s triathlon team continued its historic run at the 2026 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinals took home their fifth consecutive national championship title and eighth title overall in program history.
Young Cardinals leading the way
After winning the West Regional Qualifier in October, North Central entered this year’s championships as the Division III favorites. The format was altered on race day after the water conditions at Tempe Town Lake were determined to be unsafe for swimming. Therefore, the national championship meet was converted to a duathlon, using a run-bike-run format as opposed to the traditional swim-bike-run.
The seven Cardinals competing were not deterred by the change as they charged through the course en route to championship glory. Leading the way was freshman Whitney Eastabrook. She was the top performer for NCC in all three stages, eventually breaking the tape at the finish line with a time of 1:08.19 to secure the Division III individual national championship.
Just over a minute later, fellow freshman Ava Talabock followed her teammate across the finish in 1:09:42 as the Division III runner-up. The Cardinals swept the top three spots on the podium as senior Olivia Durbin was next to cross the line with a time of 1:09.52. Jordan Haupt kept the incredible North Central run going, finishing in fourth overall in 1:10:24.
Juniors Emily Coonce and Keeley Mick finished in sixth place and seventh place respectively, giving the Cardinals six of the top seven finishers. Senior Taylor Robinson closed out the historic day for NCC, finishing in 13th place overall with a time of 1:15:48.
North Central won the 2026 national championship with 124 team points. Trine University finished runner-up with 92 points, followed by Central College with 70. Willamette University (59) and Concordia University Wisconsin (51) rounded out the top five.
The University of Arizona won the Division I championship, while Wingate University earned the Division II championship.
A dominant performance on the biggest stage
North Central set a new program record with seven All-Americans, with Estabrook, Talabock, Durbin, Haupt, Coonce and Mick earning College Triathlon Coaches Association First-Team All-America honors, while Robinson collected Second-Team All-America honors.
In addition to her individual championship, Estabrook secured another honor by being named the Division III Freshman of the Year as the top-finishing first-year student-athlete.
Women’s triathlon became the first program in North Central College history to win five consecutive national championships.
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