The North Central College women's triathlon team established its position as the team to beat early in the 2018 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships and never looked back, winning its second consecutive team and individual titles in Tempe, Arizona.
 
Katherine Canfield surprised spectators when she was the first athlete out of the 750-meter swim, charging onto the beach followed by Naomi Hill and Grace Miller not far behind in fourth and fifth. Jennifer Hufnagle and freshman Amelia Woods entered the transition together and Amy Feltz followed suit shortly thereafter. 
 
Canfield continued to push the pace during the 20-kilometer biking stage, fending off Katie Patrick from the University of California Berkley on her heels. Hill and Miller did their part to work together and keep the Cardinals in the top-five positions. 
 
"Honestly, I feel everybody had a solid swim. They came out of the water like we had hoped—it was the best-case situation," said head coach Jenny Garrison. "They came out in the bike in little packs—even Jen who had to work by herself for a while passed up people and she held her own."
 
The three kicked it into the next gear for the 5-kilometer run and it paid off as Canfield was the first Division III athlete to cross the finish behind two Division I club athletes, taking nearly two full minutes off her time from last year, clocking a winning-time of one hour, nine minutes, 58 seconds. Miller put an exclamation point on her season, placing third with a time of 1:11:28 and proving her strength despite coming back from injury earlier this season.
 
Hill dropped a full minute from her time last year, placing fourth overall with a time of 1:12:00 in her second national championship appearance. Hufnagle turned in a tremendous performance, improving on her final time by six minutes to place fifth (1:13:26).
 
Competing in their first national championship, Feltz came in 20th with a time of 1:24:48 and Woods recorded a season-best time of 1:29:57 to finish 27th. 
 
The Cardinals defended their title as the best team in Division III, while Milwaukee School of Engineering placed second and Millikin University finished third.
 
"[This team] works really hard," said Garrison, beaming from ear to ear. "They work out twice a day pretty much every day. They're up early for practice and then they are up late studying. They did amazing today, I am so proud of them."