Josie Hemmer ’25 doesn’t mind the stares when she and the rest of the Guilford women’s triathlon team are speeding around campus on their bicycles.

“It’s just another way to recruit for the team,” she said. “Other students will say, ‘Wait, we have a triathlon team?’ How cool is that?”

Yes, Guilford indeed has a triathlon team and this weekend Josie will have one last opportunity to spread the message on the largest of stages – the NCAA Division III National Championships in Clermont, Fla.

“We’re all excited about going down and competing against the best out there,” said Josie, a Political Science major and Guilford’s unofficial triathlon recruit for four years now.

Guilford’s triathlon team consists of four athletes: Josie, Bec Cormack ’26, Emma Butts ’28 and Lainey Crafton ’27.

Guilford is the only Old Dominion Athletic Conference school to field a triathlon team and is one of 11 Division III teams that have a triathlon program.

Typically those teams would have a good idea of how they might stack up against each other based on times from the season. But this year’s national championship has a twist preventing coaches from doing just that.

With one eye on Hurricane Raphael in the Gulf of Mexico, the NCAA is changing the format for the event. Instead of all three races – biking, running and swimming – taking place on Saturday, Nov. 9, the swimming portion of the championship will be held Friday, Nov. 8. Biking and running will take place Saturday.

“That’s going to mix things up for the athletes,” says Ranicha Sargeant ’22 the Quakers coach and a former track star at Guilford herself. “Getting a break like this means you don’t have to conserve your energy in the water. You can swim as hard as possible knowing you’ve got Friday night to rest and recover.”

Bec was a sophomore at Guilford when Josie approached her about joining the team. She never thought she’d enjoy the competition as much as she does. “It’s amazing to see how you progress, how you push yourself and how your body responds,” she said. “You set a (personal record) and you want to set another. You’re always wanting to push yourself.”

Josie, who is coming off a ninth-place finish in last week’s NCAA Division III Sprint, says the women are excited about competing against the nation’s best. More than 200 Division III triathletes will compete. “We’re a small school with not much history (in the sport) but we’re ready and can’t wait,” she said.