HUDDLESTON, Va.—South Dakota fifth-year seniors Brook Benes and Kathleen Juffer posted season best times at the East Regional Qualifier on Saturday morning held at Smith Mountain Lake.
 
Benes completed the course in 1:07:07, a three minute improvement from the West Regional meet last month. A distance runner for the Coyote track and field team, Benes split 18:51 for the 5,000-meter run.
 
Juffer has improved her time with each race this season, dropping her time by nearly four minutes this week to 1:13.41. A former swimmer for the Coyotes, Juffer was 30 seconds behind the lead pack when she came out of the water in 10:20.
 
The meet served as a final run-through for the duo in preparation of the upcoming national championship.
 
Both Arizona State and South Dakota rested their top-three finishers from the West Regional meet. Queens University of Charlotte ran away with the top two spots of the East Regional Qualifier on Saturday. Anabel Knoll completed the course in 59:46 to take gold, while teammate Tereza Zimovjanova finished runner-up in 1:00:01.
 
South Dakota wraps up its inaugural season of triathlon with the 2018 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship on Sunday, Nov. 4, in Tempe, Arizona.
 
USAT East Regional Results
22. Brook Benes (USD), 1:07:07
37. Kathleen Juffer (USD), 1:13:41