Tempe, Az. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Triathlon team set out to make history at the 2022 Collegiate National Championships last Saturday in Tempe, Arizona, and accomplished just that.

Sophomore Hanna Jung (Siegen, Germany) became the first Spartan to ever cross the finish line in the National Championship. Despite the race being one of the fastest and toughest events on the triathlon schedule, Jung pushed past the mental and physical hurdles in order to achieve her goal of finishing.

Meanwhile, teammate Phoebe Hemmerling (Jr./Baton Rouge, La.) fough hard to overcome bouts with injury and illness during the course of the season to be able to compete alongside Hanna, but ultimately the race was too fast.

"It's bittersweet", said Head Coach Jeff Boyer. "I'm super happy for Hanna and heartbroken for Phoebe. They both worked so hard all season to get to this point. I'm so proud of them! Our trajectory is going up fast!"

The Spartans now take some time to rest and recuperate, before restarting their training sessions for the upcoming spring season.