Colorado Mesa University Claims Fifth Straight Regional Triathlon Crown

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Colorado Mesa University had three of the four fastest Division II finishers, including the individual champion, as the Maverick women’s triathlon team claimed its fifth straight regional title at the Women’s College Triathlon West National Qualifier.

Shannon Feran won the Division II individual title by more than a minute, completing the race in one hour, five minutes, 29.72 seconds while Natalie Mitchell (1:07.52.18) and Nadine Klive (1:08.24.12) were the third and fourth Division II finishers, respectively.

In the process, the Mavericks scored 361 team points, out-pointing hometown Drury (336), Black Hills State (290) and Cal Poly Humboldt (141), the other Division II teams in the collegiate event that was part of the Heartland Triathlon Cup.

Feran, who becomes the third Maverick to win an individual regional title in the program’s relatively brief history that dates back to 2017, was the 14th place overall finisher from a group of 121 finishers, 123 starters and 127 entrants from 16 colleges and universities, including four Division II squads.

The triathletes raced over a 750-meter lake swim, a 2-lap, nearly 12-mile bike course and 5K run segment.

Feran had finished second behind former teammate Megan Buchanan at last year’s regional.

Drury’s Zoe Van Dijk was 25th overall and second amongst Division II finishers on Saturday, in 1:06.44.55 with Mitchell and Klive coming in next from the Division II group in 33rd and 36th overall place.

The triathletes raced in two heats with the top-seeded teams based on season-long national rankings plus 20 other top-ranked individuals from other teams competing in the second heat. All nine Mavericks were in that heat although the times from both heats were merged to determine the final individual standings, which in turn determined the final team scores, which were ultimately separated out by Division.

Arizona State had the overall winner in Sidney Clement and took the team title with 485 points. The San Francisco Dons were second overall with 466 points ahead of TCU (450), Arizona (443) and South Dakota (407).

Clement crossed the line in 1:03:39.51 while USF’s Molly Gilbert second, just under 14 seconds behind in 1:03.53.41.

North Central was the top of seven Division III squad with 282 points.

Feran was the fastest Division II triathlete in all three phases, coming out of the water in 10:48, five seconds ahead of Klive and 19 faster than CMU’s Fiona Graves, who was third at the time, as the Mavs seized control of the Division II field early on. Feran then averaged 22.6 miles per hour on the bike, finishing that leg in 32:57 before extending her lead to on the run with a 5K time of 19:32.

Mitchell was also third fastest on the bike in 33:18 and had a run time of 20:45 after completing the swim in 11:36.

Klive was almost amongst the fastest Division II cyclists bike 34:05 and finished the run in 21:09 while Graves slipped back during the bike segment (36:24) before a strong run time of 21:20. Graves was the Mavs’ seventh finisher and placed 53rd overall and 14th amongst Division II finishers.

Meanwhile, Torin Lackmann finished eighth amongst the Division II triathletes and 43rd overall in 1:09.22.78 while Emma Polenske rounded out the Mavs’ team score with a 49th place finish in 1:10.40.33. She was the 11th Division II finisher after Drury had their third, fourth and fifth finishers all come across the line in a span of 31 seconds and four overall places between 45th-48th.

Abby Croasdell was right behind Polenske in 50th place with a time of 1:10.52.85.

CMU’s Yoana Tohom (67th, 1:15.58.11) and Maha Akl (74th, 1:18.49.34) also raced but were not amongst the Mavs’ pre-designated seven team scoring triathletes.

The Mavericks will now prepare for the Nov. 11 Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships in Tempe, Arizona.