Cal Poly Humboldt Executive Director for Athletics and Campus Recreation Cooper Jones has announced the hiring of Kinsey Laine as the head coach of the Lumberjack Women’s Triathlon program.  Laine will be the first head coach of the Jacks women’s triathlon team.  She comes to Humboldt from Colorado Mesa University, where she has been the Head Triathlon and Assistant Swim Coach since January 2021.

 “We are excited to welcome Kinsey as the first head coach of the Cal Poly Humboldt Triathlon program,” said Jones.  “This is an exciting time in Lumberjack Athletics and Kinsey is the right person to start the Women’s Triathlon program.”

 During her stay at Colorado Mesa, Laine orchestrated all aspects of the NCAA Division II women’s triathlon and men’s club triathlon while assisting with the men’s and women’s swimming teams.  She led the Mavericks to a second-place finish at the 2021 Women’s Collegiate Triathlon East Region Qualifier in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.  The Mavericks had three of the top thirty overall finishers at the qualifier. 

 Later that fall, Colorado Mesa captured its third straight Division II West Regional title at Hurricane, Utah.  At the Nationals in Tempe, Arizona, the Mavericks finished in fourth place.  The Maverick trio of Shannon Feran, Abigail White and Paloma Suarez were named to the College Triathlon Coaches Association (CTCA) All-American

 “It is an honor to be named as the first head coach of the women's triathlon program at Cal Poly Humboldt,” said Laine.  “I want to thank Cooper Jones and the hiring committee for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity. I know that Lumberjack Triathlon will not only transform the lives of the athletes on the team, it will play a major role in moving our sport forward. I'm looking forward to joining Humboldt during this exciting period of growth and introducing the community of Arcata to collegiate triathlon!”

 In 2018 and 2019, Laine raced professionally, recording five top-5 finishes in the Ironman 70.3 (half-distance) series during the 2019 season, including a victory at an event in Xi’an, China in September, 2019.  Those results helped her earn career-high No. 65 ranking in the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) World Ranking system.

 Based in Bend, Oregon at the time, she also coached individual triathletes and cyclists in the area and coached the Bend Swim Club team as well.

 Prior to her professional career, Laine served as the assistant women’s swimming coach at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where she was the primary coach for the Nanooks’ distance swimmers, helping her student-athletes break the school records in all three distance freestyle events (500, 1000 and 1,650).  She also coached the Nanooks’ lone NCAA Division II Championship qualifier of 2017, Cassidy Heaton, in her final season in Fairbanks.

 While coaching, she also completed a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching education through Georgia Southern in 2016.
 

Laine was also a NCAA Division II student-athlete for the Nanooks, competing in swimming for four years and cross country as a senior while completing her bachelor’s degree i