According to the press release on October 9, Milligan College has announced the addition of the triathlon team which will compete as a club sport beginning in the 2019-20 academic year. Jason Onks, director of campus activities and a triathlete, is in the process of becoming Level 1 certified through USA Triathlon and becoming head coach. USA Triathlon will be the governing body for the program, and the Buffs will compete in the Southeast Collegiate Triathlon Conference. Triathlon scholarships will be available for qualified athletes.
“My goal is to recruit and get commitments from six athletes – three males and three females,” Jason Onks, future head coach of the triathlon said. The process to recruit potential athletes for Milligan College will be different from other traditional collegiate teams mostly because Onks knows that triathlon competitions are an emerging sport and realizes that the sport is not establish in many schools. Onks wants to use the structure that USA Triathlon has provided to network with junior, youth-development and Olympic collegiate clubs to connect with potential triathletes for Milligan College. He believes that he may not find anyone who has a complete triathlon background but hopes to inspire his recruited athletes to compete in triathlons at Milligan.
Triathlons are an extension to sports that Milligan already offers: swimming, cycling, and cross country/track and field; however, it focuses more on the endurance of all three sports in one competition. Since it is an emerging sport, Milligan College can capitalize on the movement of this opportunity to recruit more athletic students. Triathlons also promote a healthy lifestyle between three disciplines and performance in both sports and education. Triathletes will be practicing in the pool, gym, and track on campus with schedules that will not conflict with other sport training sessions. Onks has also been able to incorporate training for triathletes to cycle with Milligan’s current cycling team. Triathletes will be using local trails to train such as the Tweetsie Trail and school track at Science Hill. The team will also combine resources and training together alongside the triathlon team of East Tennessee State University.
Onks mentions that there will be a budget for the team that will include travel, equipment and race fees. “We will finance the team like we finance all of our sports by building it into the budget. There are currently no outside resources to finance it, but we will be focused on fundraising money. We will also have scholarships available,” Mark Fox, vice president for student development and athletics, said. More details on the teams budget could not be shared since it is proprietary information as Fox explained.