In the final run of the year, sophomore Hannah Henry led the Sun Devil triathlon team to its third consecutive national championship.
In addition, junior Charlotte Ahrens, redshirt senior Katie Gorczyca, sophomore Kyla Roy and freshman Audrey Ernst all finished with Henry in the top-five. Freshman Kira Stanley and sophomore Rebecca Naughton also finished in the top-10.
Henry completed the run in 01:01:54 and posted times of 10:18 in swim, 31:09 in bike and 19:15 in the run. Henry spent a 1:12 during transitions.
Her first place finish gives Henry her second consecutive individual championship. She even beat her previous national championship time by more than two minutes.
Ahrens finished right behind Henry, posting a time of 01:01:59. Ahrens ran times of 10:11 in swim, 31:11 in bike and 19:26 in the run. Ahrens spent a 1:09 during transitions.
Gorczyca finished with a time of 01:02:19. She spent 10:18 in swim, 31:08 in bike and 19:43 in the run, while spending 1:09 during transitions.
Roy finished the run in fourth with a time of 01:03:16. Ernst finished in fifth with a time of 01:05:10. Stanley and Naughton finished in eighth and ninth place respectively.
The Sun Devils as a team took a hold of the lead early on. Every runner in the top-five after the swim portion of the race hailed from ASU.
The group of runners who finished in the top five maintained pace throughout much of the race, with only University of South Dakota's Leah Drengenberg pushing into the top-five after the bike portion of the race.
Drengenberg forced Ernst out of the top-five, but Ernst made up ground in the run portion to finish in fifth.
It was also announced that the Sun Devil's coach Cliff English won his second consecutive Coach of the Year Award, given by the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association.
All but one of the runners who ran in the race will return next year, with Gorczyca graduating this year.
Next year, the Sun Devils will look to defend their title for the fourth time and Henry will be looking to win three consecutive championships of her own on what is now a dynasty for ASU triathlon.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
