It’s Saturday morning. Early.

It’s in the mid-to-upper 30s in the middle of winter.

For the most part, everyone has finished up with their classes for the week and, if you’re lucky and don’t work on the weekend, you can relax and sleep in. That’s what normal college students do, right? Heck, that is what the normal student-athlete does, right?Not if you’re on the triathlon team.

The Sacramento State triathlon team held the first event of “The Second Saturday Sprint Triathlon Series” on Saturday. For those who aren’t familiar with a triathlon and what it entails, here’s a brief synopsis:

A triathlon is a series of three activities, each with a predetermined limit of completion. The triathlon starts with a 500-yard swim, followed by a 13 mile bicycle course. The triathlon’s final event, a three-mile run, really tests the competitor’s endurance after just completing two grueling events.

In the team’s first “Second Saturday” event, the Hornets, UC Davis and UC Berkeley took part. Although Berkeley made a sweep as the top three male and female finishers, Tucker Farrar of Sac State came in a close fourth with a time of one hour, eight minutes and 40 seconds.

Robert Caputo, also of Sac State and the Army ROTC program, came in fifth with a time of 1:09:40.

Although there were three teams out there, these “Second Saturday” events are all part of a greater picture, according to Tia Kilpatrick, one of the leaders of the triathlon team.

“We’re training for (the collegiate) nationals,” Kilpatrick said.”We’re up at 6 a.m. and we work out five-to-six days a week.”

The triathlon team is a young and energetic organization made up of dedicated endurance athletes that train on the track, on the river, in the pool and in the gym.

The team consists of 25 athletes ready to tackle a long, grueling — but rewarding — process.

The team will be hosting two more monthly triathlons. Both are open to the public at a cost of $10 for students and $15 for the general public, in order to raise funds for their collegiate nationals in May.

The two dates will be March 8 and April 12. Registration is at 7:30 a.m. with a 9 a.m. start time. For more information about the Second Saturday events, log on to www.csus.edu/rec.