Balancing medical school and triathlon training may not be the easiest thing in the world, but thats not stopping Dan Jones.

Jones, a fourth-year Columbia medical student, will compete at the Collegiate National Championship in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend after placing second overall in the Northeast Collegiate Triathlon Conference. The event features the nations top male and female collegiate traithletes, and is put on by USA Triathlon, the sports national governing body. Jones will compete in the mens olympic distance race, which consists of 1.5 kilometers of swimming, 40 kilometers of biking, and 10 kilometers of running.

A varsity swimmer at Harvard as an undergraduate, Jones will be competing against another former Crimson swimmer in Arizonahis twin brother, William. William Jones, currently a graduate student at University of California, San Diego, has competed in this particular race before. But this will be Dan Jones first time.

My personal goal is to try to stay with him in swim and then try to kind of hang with him on the bike, Dan Jones said. Hes going to blow me away on the runI know thatso Ive been working on each discipline with him in mind. Hes got a few years of training on me.

Jones was invited to Nationals after coming in second in Columbias conference last year, finishing behind a sponsored, professional athlete.

Columbia competes in five or six races in the fall. The winner of each race gets a score of 150 points, and each successive finish is worth two fewer points. Each athletes three best scores are used in determining standings within the conference. The conference then sends the top the top seven male individuals and male teams and top six female individuals and female teams to nationals.

Jones sporadically competed with Columbias triathlon team when he started medical school. But it was only recently that he found a way to balance the demands of triathlon training with his schoolwork, partly by enrolling in physical education electives at Columbia to help him train.

Jones, who completed an Ironman triathlon last summer, also uses weekly practices with Columbias team as part of his training regimen.

Its incredibly helpful being with other people, Jones said. Im somebody that feeds off getting pushed and somebody being faster than me, so its something that definitely motivates you. Its something that keeps you in check, so youre not cutting your workout short.

Taylor Fogg, CC 17, and Ada Rubin, BC 12who placed third and sixth respectively among womenalso qualified for Nationals, but will not be making the trip to Arizona. As a whole, the Columbia womens team took fourth place behind United States Coast Guard, Army, and Boston University. The mens team placed 13th in the conference, above both Harvard and Yale. Columbia finished seventh overall, making it the highest-ranked Ivy League team.

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Medical school student Jones to compete in triathlon nationals