A decade has passed since Arizona State University officially added women’s lacrosse and triathlon as varsity sports at the school in an announcement on Oct. 20, 2015. That was the last time the Sun Devils added a new sport.
Since then, there has been growth for the two programs.
Courtney Martinez-Connor was hired as the school’s first lacrosse coach in the 2018 season. Tim McCormack took over in 2020 for two seasons, winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2022. When he left, Taryn VanHof Puls was hired. VanHof has remained in her role since then.
The Sun Devils have gone 26-31 under VanHof and are coming off an 11-8 season, a Big 12 runner-up finish in 2025 and the first winning season for VanHof in Tempe.
“Growth is the biggest thing when we look at Sun Devils’ lacrosse over the past couple of years,” VanHof told The Republic in a recent Zoom interview. “They had an excellent year in the 2022 season, and we just came in and we continued to grow. We hit program records last season, from wins, to statistical, to All-Americans.”
It’s not just the wins that VanHof is counting as growth; it’s the level of competition.
ASU played five schools last season ranked in the top 25, going 1-4, all with the hope of eventually making the postseason, which she did for five consecutive seasons while at the helm of Florida before joining the Sun Devils.
“I want to make sure that we are putting ourselves in a position to make the NCAA tournament,” VanHof said. “That’s our ultimate goal, to win a conference championship and put ourselves in the NCAA tournament. That’s what we’re looking to do as we continue to grow and develop in the next couple years.”
In order to achieve that, VanHof will have to overcome her former team, with Florida at the top of the Big 12 (In women’s lacrosse, Florida, Colorado, ASU, UC Davis, Cincinnati and San Diego State make up the conference).
VanHof feels the program is close to taking that next step.
“Exciting times right now,” VanHof said. “Last year, we fell just short of making the NCAA tournament. One more win would have probably pushed us into the boat to get us there.
“But this year, we come back with a lot of returners and hunger and excitement surrounding Sun Devil lacrosse. This year, you’re going to see a lot of fun games. We didn’t shy away from a schedule. We see six to seven in the top 20. These kids want to prove we are a top 25 team and we’re going to compete with the best of the best.”
College lacrosse has grown nationally as well since ASU added it. The sport has spread out from its East Coast origins, and viewership is up in terms of spectators, VanHof said. Currently, 117 schools offer Division I women’s lacrosse in 16 conferences.
The Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) launched in 2025 and is set to expand in 2026. Globally, lacrosse is growing too, as the sport will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.
Triathlon has turned into a powerhouse
For the triathlon program, the journey to the top has been much quicker.
In the 10 years since Cliff English was hired to lead the program, the triathlon team has won seven national championships, all in a row from 2016 to 2023.
The team has come a long way from when it barely had any resources to start with.
“I sometimes joke, especially those who have been around since the very beginning, we didn’t have a swim cap, or a bicycle, or running shoes,” English said. “We had nothing. It was just the idea, the belief. It wasn’t a sport before, so you were starting from zero. It was pretty daunting.”
Now, there’s a team trailer, a van and a bicycle shed with an air conditioning unit, which stores equipment worth up to $15,000. Arizona State triathletes get to leave school with two bikes — a big perk and one of the many signs of the program’s growth.
English was already a well-established figure in the triathlon world when he was hired as the former USA Triathlon national team coach. He went to work right away, building the program, recruiting seven in the first class and going up from there.
Hannah Henry was the first star athlete under English. She won consecutive individual national titles in 2017 and 2018. Then came Kyla Roy in 2019 and Amber Schlebusch in 2022, both winning national titles. Now Naomi Ruff, the defending national champion, is the latest Sun Devil to shine with English.
Arizona State was a trendsetter in women’s triathlon, becoming the first Power Five conference school to adopt the sport a decade ago. Women’s triathlon, part of the NCAA’s Emerging Sports program, has grown tremendously since then, with 37 schools participating in 2024.
While triathlon has exceeded the minimum of 40 participating programs in the last few years, it is the number of competitions required per school that has prevented it from becoming an official NCAA sport, English said. But triathlon is close to reaching NCAA status as momentum builds.
The triathlon world at the collegiate level has become centered around the state of Arizona, with its ideal climate for training and long history with endurance sports. The University of Arizona added the sport in 2022 and has quickly established itself as one of the nation’s premier programs, winning the national title in 2024 and ending ASU’s streak of seven straight.
That’s on the minds of English and the team as the national championships return to Tempe on Nov. 8 after taking place last season in Florida.
“We respect them, we know how strong they are,” English said. “The girls are looking at it like, ‘We got it back in Tempe. It’s our course. It’s our race. We want to prove a point.’ I think they’re really looking forward to taking it back. It’s going to be one hell of a battle.”
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@gannett.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LSscribe.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU lacrosse, triathlon hit 10-year anniversary
