The Meet

South Dakota women's triathlon competes at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships on Saturday, November 13, at 4 p.m. central (3 p.m. locally). The race will be held at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota finished runner-up at the East Regional Qualifier in Virginia to officially punch their ticket this season. Fourth-year junior Maddie Lavin garnered All-Region honors at that meet with a third-place finish. Freshman Micah Poellet was the All-Region freshman at the Central Regional Qualifier in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Also in USD's scoring five at the East Regional were third-year sophomore Ella Kubas and fourth-year juniors Leah Drengenberg and Sammy Whitting. Freshman Andrea Cernuda did not race in Virginia, but was among USD's top-three in Wisconsin.
 

The Competition

Joining the Coyotes in the Division I field on Saturday are Arizona State, Delaware State, Denver, East Tennessee State, San Francisco and Wagner.
 

The History

The USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships were canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The field has grown quickly since the last national meet in 2019 as schools have continued to add triathlon as an NCAA emerging sport. South Dakota was the national runner-up in 2018 and 2019, the first two seasons of USD's program. Drengenberg was USD's first All-American in the sport, placing third at the 2019 championship meet.
 

One Last Thing

Triathlon is considered an emerging sport by the NCAA. The sport has 10 years to reach 40 teams to earn NCAA Championship status. Triathlon currently sits at 37 programs and has the potential to become an NCAA Championship sport by as early as 2022.