The Weekend
The South Dakota women's triathlon squad travels to Springfield, Missouri, for the West Region Qualifier on Saturday morning.
Saturday's race will be held at Fellows Lake as a part of the Heartland Triathlon Cup. There are two collegiate heats on Saturday set to take off at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. The draft-legal sprint race consists of a 750-meter open-water swim, a 20-kilometer bike ride and a 5,000-meter run.
The Coyotes
Saturday's race is the final team competition ahead of the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship. Junior
Kayla Ribbink led the Coyotes last time out at the Black Hills Collegiate Cup, recording a time of 59:48.9 for third place. Sophomore
Chelsea Webber, junior
Franziska Neck, junior
Grace Busch and senior
Verena Vesely rounded out South Dakota's scorers at the meet.
The Competition
South Dakota will face off against defending national champion Arizona State along with San Francisco, TCU and Arizona in the field.
The top three teams in Division I, Division II and Division III from both the East and West Regional Championships automatically qualify for Nationals. In addition, the next six-fastest teams, regardless of region, will advance. The East Regional is set for Sunday at Smith Mountain Lake in Huddleston, Virginia.
Up Next
South Dakota looks to qualify for the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships that take place Nov. 11 in Tempe, Arizona.
