Kendal Williams was a swimmer before she was a triathlete, and although she has enjoyed triumphs in the pool, she never figured swimming would lead to a college scholarship.
Yet swimming is one of the reasons Williams, a recent Dimond High graduate, will be a Division I college athlete next fall at Arizona State.
Her sport: Triathlon.
Williams, 18, is part of a new wave in women's collegiate athletics.
In January 2014, the NCAA approved triathlon as an emerging sport for women. Last December, USA Triathlon gave the sport a huge boost by awarding $2.6 million in grant money to eight schools that are starting triathlon teams, including Arizona State.
"I never thought about swimming in college," Williams said. "I was just under that cusp of being good."
As a triathlete, she is more than good. At last September's ITU Age-Group World Championships in Chicago, Williams finished fifth in the 18-19 age group.
In Sunday's Gold Nugget Triathlon at Bartlett High, Williams racked up her second consecutive top-15 performance in the all-women's race. She placed 12th, two spots better than a year ago.
At Arizona State, Williams will be coached by one of the best in the business -- Cliff English, a former USA Triathlon national team coach who has coached triathletes at the last three Summer Olympics.
As it turns out, English has been an online coach for Anchorage's Rebecca McKee, who placed second Sunday. McKee proved to be a valuable connection for Williams.
"She gave him input on me, and she gave me input on him," Williams said.
English and Williams started emailing each other about the opportunity at Arizona State, Williams made a recruiting visit to Tempe in February, and earlier this month she signed her letter of intent.
Triathlon is a fledgling sport in the NCAA world -- right now only 10 schools offer it, Williams said. Triathlon has 10 years to meet certain criteria before it becomes an official NCAA championship sport, and one of the requirements is that at least 40 schools offer it.
College triathletes will compete at Olympic distances – 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run.