HUDDLESTON, Va.—South Dakota sophomore Payton Ryz paced the women's triathlon team in the team's final regular season tune-up Saturday at the East Regional Qualifier held at Smith Mountain Lake.
 
Ryz recorded a new collegiate best time of 1 hour, 4 minutes, 14 seconds on the course to place 15th in the field. The time is a minute faster than her personal record from the 2018 West Regional Qualifier and more than four minutes ahead of her season best in 2019.
 
A trio of true freshman joined Ryz in competition on Saturday. Freshman Maddie Katz improved her season best by 20 seconds, completing the course in 1:05:45.4 for 19th place. Freshman Tessa Brennan made her debut in a Coyote uniform, clocking 1:10:31.4 to finish 35th. Both Katz and Brennan, who will join the Coyote swimming and diving squad this winter, were in the top-10 of the field out of the water.
 
Freshman Olivia Wade rounded out the Coyote squad with a 39th-place finish in 1:13:49.0. Wade was also making her season debut.
 
The Coyotes toe the line at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship in Tempe, Arizona, on Nov. 16. South Dakota finished runner-up at the meet in its inaugural season.