When Miah Sosenheimer graduated from high school, she thought her athletic career was over.
She’d wrapped up her high school swim career and committed to attending the University of Indianapolis. But just weeks before starting her freshman year, she got a call from the coach of the UIndy women’s triathlon team.
He wanted her to join.
At first, Sosenheimer thought the call was a scam. She had minimal running experience and was even less familiar with competitive biking. But after confirming the call was legit, she decided to join.
“I’ve always had an identity as an athlete,” Sosenheimer, who’s now a sophomore, said. “I like to challenge myself. I liked the thought of going out and trying something new.”
The triathletes are the new kids on the block — both at UIndy and in college athletics. This year is the second season for the UIndy team, which is the only college triathlon team in the city and one of just two college programs in Indiana. The other is at Trine University in Angola.
The NCAA added women’s triathlon in 2014 as part of an initiative to create more women’s college sports teams. In the last decade, more than 40 schools across the country have added women’s triathlon programs.
College triathlon is a sprint distance — a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride and 5-kilometer run. Athletes compete individually, but are scored as a team.
Building up a squad at UIndy was a challenge. Most high schools don’t have triathlon teams. Head coach Doug Robinson had to focus on recruiting people like Sosenheimer — athletes with experience in either swimming, running or biking.
That meant Robinson had to teach most athletes at least one new sport — all while trying to build a team and culture. That led to some tough practices last season.
“High-achieving young ladies, as a general rule, don’t like to fail at things,” Robinson said. “You’re putting them into a space where there’s going to be lots of frustration and failure.”
Building a team
For Robinson, coaching a college triathlon team is the culmination of a near-lifelong passion for the sport. So when he saw UIndy was hiring a coach for its new triathlon team, he jumped at the chance to apply.
But Robinson had just two months to get a team together before the season started in August last year. There was even less time to teach some of his athletes how to bike, run or swim competitively.
UIndy triathletes practice two to three times a day — swim practice in the morning, and a bike ride or run in the afternoon. Sometimes there’s the dreaded “brick” session, which is a bike ride followed immediately by a run. That’s not even counting weightlifting, team meetings and community volunteering.
“There were a few times I’m like, ‘Don’t quit on me,’” Robinson said.
But over the course of the season, Robinson and his team developed a rhythm that led them to place 20th overall out of 39 teams at nationals last fall.
Robinson tailors workouts to each athlete’s capabilities while ensuring no one is left behind. For example, longtime swimmers may do more laps, but Robinson times the workouts so everyone starts and finishes at the same time.
“It’s the commitment to the goal or the outcome as a team,” Robinson said, “but knowing that there’s going to be multiple different paths to get to that space.”
Grad student Katie Dolen is the veteran of the UIndy triathlon team this season. She competed in her first triathlon almost eight years ago.
Dolen was a gift for Robinson: an athlete who already had experience swimming, biking and running competitively.
“I always joke that I’m mediocre at all three,” Dolen said, “but when you put them together, it kind of works.”
Though Dolen didn’t have the same learning curve as her teammates, being part of a triathlon team was new for her. Throughout last season, she was buoyed by the encouragement she got and, in turn, gave to her teammates.
“It’s an individual sport,” Dolen said, “but you don’t feel alone.”
A sport for life
The UIndy triathletes aren’t just training to compete this season. They’re getting better at something they could do for the rest of their lives.
Some triathletes compete well into their 70s and 80s, and a 2012 study showed that Ironman triathletes over the age of 40 were still improving their race times.
“I think I’ll do triathlons until my body gives out,” said junior Nadia Beran, who transferred to UIndy this year. “I just love it, and I’ll do it until I stop loving it.”
And for grad student Ainsleigh Cardone, triathlon is becoming more than a sport.
“It’s become a part of me,” she said.
The UIndy triathletes will start their second season with a race Sunday, Aug. 31, at Geist Waterfront. As a team, they’re hoping to place in the top five of Division II teams at the NCAA nationals in November. That’ll mean a lot more tough practices for the next few months.
For Sosenheimer, that shared commitment to getting better is what makes being part of the team so fun.
“Nobody feels like they have to be here, or like they’re forced to be here,” she said. “We get to be here.”
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Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, on most social media @clairerafford or on Signal 317-759-0429.
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