Jeff Lovgren is entering his eighth season as the head triathlon coach at Newman University in 2023-24.
In the 2022-23 season the Jets competed in 7 competitions. Maggie Koenig became the first woman in Newman history to finish a Draft-Legal race. Asher Brown placed 17th in the nation in his division at the USA National Championships, the best finish by a Jet in team history in a Draft-Legal race.
In the first two years in the program’s history, the Jets have shown steady improvement. Boasting a fuller roster in 2017-18, they finished eighth overall in the Midwest Collegiate Triathlon Conference point standings, fifth in the women’s standings and seventh in the men’s. Those totals came without Newman participating in six summer outdoor races that carry more weight than the indoor events.
In the first year of the program, the Jets qualified all of their team members to the National Collegiate Club Championships.
Lovgren, who helped jumpstart the first institution-sponsored college triathlon program in the state of Kansas, came to Newman with years of experience teaching triathlon in the Wichita area. He currently is the owner of the Endurance Factory, a training and consulting business specializing in triathlons, and was a co-owner of Wichita Triathlon, helping the team to the 2012 USA Triathlon Division IV Club National Championship title.
Lovgren also coached with the YMCA Triathlon Club in Wichita, which provides step-by-step instruction and training to those seeking to learn the sport. He has received both Level I and Youth and Junior certification from USAT, the national governing body for triathlon, and has trained numerous competitors for both competitive and leisure races.
A graduate of Wichita State University, Lovgren resides in Wichita. He and his wife, Jennifer, have one son, Jackson.
