THE MEET

South Dakota women's triathlon competes at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships on Saturday, November 12, at 2:30 p.m. central (1:30 p.m. locally). The race will be held at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona.
 

THE COYOTES

South Dakota finished runner-up at the West Regional Qualifier in Missouri to officially punch their ticket this season. Senior Cass Dalbec and Ella Kubas garnered All-Region honors at that meet as Dalbec placed sixth and Kubas seventh. Also in USD's scoring five at the West Regional were sophomores Kayla Ribbink and Andrea Cernuda along with senior Teagan Shapansky. Rounding out the Coyotes lineup in Arizona will be junior Verena Vesely and freshman Chelsea Webber.

THE COMPETITION

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

THE HISTORY

The USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships made a return in 2021 after being 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 finished third in 2021 after being national runner-up in 2018 and 2019, the first two seasons of USD's program. Leah Drengenberg was USD's first All-American in the sport, placing third at the 2019 championship meet. Dregenberg was one of four Coyotes to earn All-American honors in 2021, named to the honorable mention team. Maddie Lavin was named a first-team All-American while Micah Poellet and Kubas were named second team All-Americans.
 

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. USA Triathlon announced in February that it has hit its milestone of 40 teams within the 10 year deadline and now will trigger a recommendation and eventually a vote to officially add women's triathlon as a NCAA championship sport by 2024.