Triathlon team finalizes rosters of 10 Flames, 10 Lady Flames after Wednesday’s tryout

Wednesday, August 27

Lynchburg, VA

5:00-7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Tryouts

Triathlon team finalizes rosters of 10 Flames, 10 Lady Flames after Wednesday’s tryout

8/28/2025 5:34:00 PM | Triathlon

Liberty added three men’s and three women’s triathletes to provide depth for its Sept. 13 season-opening races in North Carolina, USA Triathlon Collegiate Nationals in spring.

Tryouts for this season's Liberty University men's and women's triathlon teams concluded with a highly competitive sprint race Wednesday afternoon starting at the Liberty Natatorium, with 37 student-athletes contending for 20 spots on the 2025-26 roster.

"From a coach's perspective, it is very exciting when you have new triathletes coming in as fast or faster than your returning team members," Head Coach Heather Gollnick said. "To have so many athletes desire to be on the team is a huge honor for our program and a testimony to its depth. It makes me reflect on Luke 12:48: 'To whom much is given, much will be required.' We are grateful for the responsibility and opportunity to steward this blessing well."

None of the 16 returning triathletes were guaranteed positions but had to earn them at the race, which started with a 600-meter swim in the Natatorium's long course pool and continued with a 9-mile cycling stage and a 5-kilometer run along Liberty Mountain Drive.

It was the sixth year the tryout race has taken place on that course, directed by Assistant Coach Todd Gollnick, who serves in the same role for the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships.

"I've never heard of any other program or school that can put something on like this," junior Alex Schimmel said. "To have our tryout be a perfect simulation of a race set-up, and having Coach Todd as a race organizer and his experience with it, it's amazing. My brother (senior Brandon Schimmel) and I worked with Todd at Junior Nationals. Seeing the work he puts in and his commitment to bring his unique skills to help this team be the best it can be, we're super blessed to have that. It's just a testament to how above-and-beyond our coaches are and how top-notch the program is in supporting us and giving us the opportunity to succeed."

Alex Schimmel placed second in the men's race, ahead of Brandon Schimmel and behind only freshman Elijah Barker from their home state of New Jersey.

"The three of us have raced each other a few times in the past back in New Jersey and New York," Alex Schimmel said. "We raced each other at (USA Triathlon) Age-Group Nationals at Atlantic City (N.J.) last year, and after that race we talked. We're so excited that he came to Liberty and to have him trying out and have him on the team."

Barker is one of three newcomers added to the men's roster along with fellow freshmen Evan Bittner, who has draft-legal racing experience, and Jack Donohue.

"The training's going to be amazing, and we're so excited to work with each other this year," Alex Schimmel said as they prepare for the season-opening Belews Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon in Stokesdale, N.C., on Sept. 13. "It's going to be a good couple of weeks bringing everyone together and getting to work. I'm super excited for it and ready to bring this new team up."

Junior Kendall Leininger, who won the 18-24-year-old division of her first Ironman 70.3-mile Triathlon over the summer in State College, Pa., finished first among women in Wednesday's race. She was followed by Jaden Lucas, who made the women's triathlon roster along with fellow freshmen Beverly Swem and Natalie Kingston.

"I was very pleased when I finished and really excited," said Lucas, a cross country and track runner for her high school team in Illinois. "I've only done three (triathlons) before, so I was nervous coming in, but very pleased with how this went today."

Lucas' father, Michael, threw the discus and javelin for the Flames' NCAA Division I track & field program in the 1990s while her mother, Jerri (Lucido) Lucas, played one season on its NCAA DI women's soccer team in 1996-97.

"My parents are alumni, and I've always had Liberty on my radar," said Jaden Lucas, who is planning to pursue a BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in education.

She reached out to Leininger over the summer to find out more about the program after competing in her first triathlon in late May.

"I really enjoy the sport," Lucas said. "Cycling was brand new to me, but I've had a swimming background in my grade-school years, and I did club swimming. This was one of my fastest bike legs that I've had and probably the fastest swim I've had in a while, and with the run, I felt really strong, so it was a very good race for me today."

This Friday and Saturday, the Flames and Lady Flames will go on an overnight retreat to Stone Ridge, a mansion with a lake in nearby Concord, Va., where they will plan their team goals and theme verse as well as play games and receive inspiration from Heather Gollnick, speaking from her book, "Triathlete EQ."

"That's a great way to bring the team together when we bring new people in," Alex Schimmel said. "Culture is such an important thing to us on this team, just building a group of people that come together in a way that goes so far beyond the sport. We're all brothers and sisters in Christ."
He said the team members carry that culture wherever they go for competitions, and by shining the light of Christ, it opens witnessing opportunities and helps with recruitment.

"That's something we're really blessed to have … everywhere, all the time, at dinner every night, at practice twice per day," he said. "We're always around each other and that just brings us close. Everyone loves each other. It's amazing. Others see what makes our team different; they see how close we are and how excited we are for each other, and everyone's thinking, 'How could I be a part of that? That's who I want to be surrounded by — someone who cares about my performance, cares about making me a better athlete, but, more importantly, cares about my spiritual walk and health and life.'"

Brandon Schimmel and graduate Lydia Couric have been designated the men's and women's team captains, respectively, this season. Its Disciple Makers are junior Caleb Wilson and sophomore Slade Keaton for the men, and Leininger and sophomore Brooklyn Randles for the women.

After the Sept. 13 opener, the team will also travel to the Pleasants Landing Olympic & Sprint Triathlons on Oct. 4 at Lake Anna, Va., and the USPC Draft Legal Triathlon Festival on Oct. 25 at Lake Norman State Park in Troutman, N.C. In the spring semester, they will compete in the Feb. 28-March 1 Clermont Draft Legal Challenge and USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Florida.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer