SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Growing up like most young athletes, freshman Gillian Cridge played multiple sports trying to find the one that she clicked with the most. After realizing gymnastics wasn't going to be her path, Cridge dove head first into swimming and found an even more intriguing individual sport along the way. 

"It was like there was something in me with the individual sports that just clicked," Cridge explained. "I've always had that competitive spirit in me, when I started running and swimming around the age of six, seven, eight is when I started to get into those sports. I just found my spot in triathlon."

After establishing herself within the sport, the accolades weren't far behind. Gillian won her first age group national championship when she was 12 in what was her first year that she began focusing on biking. Following a short break away from the sport, Cridge decided at 16 years old she was going to do everything in her power to be a collegiate athlete.

"What makes Gillian special as a triathlete is her ability to just focus," USF head coach Gina Kehr said. "She brings a work ethic that you can just tell that she's very goal driven in what she's doing in practice, she's competitive but you can tell that she also likes a special environment. She wants to be in an environment where she feels she's a part of something."

Coach Kehr's drive and determination coupled with the program's potential were enough to entice Gillian to head west and join the USF program. Competing this fall at the 2021 National Championships in Tempe, Ariz. the Dons were ready to show the country that a new program was on the landscape ready to make some noise.

"You never know exactly how things are going to work out, especially on a brand new course," Cridge explained. "It was super hot at 3 p.m. and no part of this race was in anybody's favor."

Watching and coaching from a distance, Kehr saw that Gillian had the potential to do something special that day throughout the race, which led to a historic day for the Dons' program.

Racing towards the finish line with one more spot on the podium left to be claimed, Cridge saw her teammate Kira Gupta-Baltazar ecstatic jumping up and down knowing that two athletes in green and gold would be on leaving Tempe with medals as Gillian finished third and Kira as the individual national champion.

"I'm just so thankful that USF brought triathlon on because without Gina's vision and the vision of the athletic department and Title IX our sport wouldn't be an NCAA sport," Cridge said. "Knowing we had three in the top four, we're coming and everyone knows it."

To view the full feature on YouTube, please click here.

For updates and more information on the University of San Francisco women's triathlon team, please follow the Dons @USFTriathlon on Twitter and @USFDonsTriathlon on Instagram.