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University of Denver 1st, Colorado Mesa University 3rd at Bearathlon

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BERKELEY, Calif. – Three University of Denver triathletes placed in the top five on Sunday morning at the Bearathlon at Berkeley Marina to lead the NCAA Division I squad to a first place team finish. It was the Pioneers’ final tune-up race before the 2022 national championships in two weeks. Colorado Mesa University’s Shannon Feran and Ashlyn Hicken recorded top-10 finishes to lead the Maverick women’s triathlon team to a third place team finish.

Denver University

Freshman Elizabeth Harita (59:30.0) led the Pioneers in second place while sophomore Avarie Faulkner (59:54.2) joined her teammate on the podium in third. Graduate student Melissa Funes (1:00:49.8) came in fifth overall for DU at the race, which was won by Juliette Janne Dothee of San Francisco (58:31.5).

Freshmen Coco Diemar (1:02:49.9) and Nadiya Linde-Elmhirst (1:02:59.4) also scored for Denver with top-10 results by coming in ninth and 10th, respectively, and senior Stormy Hegg placed 15th (1:09:36.5)

Harita’s second-place finish was a career best and marked the second podium of her collegiate career after finishing third at the Southern Hills Triathlon on Sept. 3. She was among the leaders out of the water and went on to produce the fastest 20-kilometer bike time (28:30) and fourth-fastest run (19:40) to put herself on the stand.

Faulkner and Funes also had strong kicks in the 5K run to wrap up the race, with Funes posting the fastest mark in the field at 18:45.4 and Faulkner having the third-quickest at 19:18.7.

The Pioneers placed first in the team event with 76 points after having all five of their scorers finish in the top 10. The University of San Francisco placed second with 57 points, just edging Colorado Mesa University in third (56 points).

It was the Pioneers’ second team win of the season and the fourth in program history. Denver has now finished on the podium in all five races this season.

Denver competed without Freya McKinley and Clara Normand, as the two sophomores were racing internationally this weekend for their respective countries at the 2022 Pan American Junior Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Pioneers will close the fall campaign and go for their first national title on Saturday, Nov. 12 as they travel to Tempe, Arizona, for the 2022 Collegiate National Championships at Tempe Town Lake.

Triathlete runs to the finish line with a competitor behind her
A Denver University athlete competes at the Bearathlon triathlon (Morgan Engel/Clarkson Creative Photography).

Colorado Mesa University

Colorado Mesa University’s Shannon Feran Ashlyn Hicken recorded top-10 finishes to lead the Maverick women’s triathlon team.

Feran completed the draft-legal race, which comprised a 750-meter swim, 20-kilomter bike and 5-kilometer run in just over an hour (1:00.06.5) to finish fourth while Hicken was seventh in 1:01.43.5.

Torin Lackmann was 12th in 1:03.46.8 while Abby Croasdell finished 14th in 1:04.08.0. Emma Polenske (16th, 1:06.56.6) and Fiona Graves (20th, 1:10.44.1) also finished for the Mavericks.

Feran had the second fastest swim time in the field, completing that section in 8:52.6

A total of 20 women finished the race, including 16 from three NCAA teams in Denver, San Francisco and the Mavericks.

The Mavs, ranked third in NCAA Division II, will conclude the championship portion of the season on Nov. 12 at the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon Championships in Tempe, Ariz.

Seven women pose for a photo with water in the background
Colorado Mesa women’s triathlon team at the Bearathon triathlon in Berkeley.

Results

Women’s NCAA Team Individual Finishers (20 Entries, 4 DNFs)

  1. Juliette Janne Dothee, San Francisco, 58:31.5 – 20 points
  2. Elizabeth Harita, Denver, 59:30.0 – 19 points
  3. Avarie Faulkner, Denver, 59:54.2 – 18 points
  4. Shannon Feran, Colorado Mesa, 1:00:06.5 – 17 points
  5. Melissa Funes, Denver, 1:00:49.8 – 16 points
  6. Maddie Perkins, San Francisco, 1:00:57.4 – 15 points
  7. Ashlyn Hicken, Colorado Mesa, 1:01:43.5 – 14 points
  8. Veronika Divis, San Francisco, 1:02:22.4 – 13 points
  9. Coco Diemar, Denver, 1:02:49.9 – 12 points
  10. Nadiya Linde-Elhmhirst, Denver, 1:02:59.4 – 11 points
  11. Torin Lackmann, Colorado Mesa, 1:03:46.8 – 10 points
  12. Chloe Yoder, San Francisco, 1:03:48.0 – 9 points
  13. Abby Croasdell, Colorado Mesa, 1:04:08.0 – 8 points
  14. Emma Polenske, Colorado Mesa, 1:06:56.6 – 7 points
  15. Stormy Hegg, Denver, 1:09:36.5 – 6 points
  16. Fiona Graves, Colorado Mesa, 1:10:44.1 – 5 points

Women’s Team Results

  1. Denver – 76 points
  2. San Francisco – 57 points
  3. Colorado Mesa – 56 points

— Ron Knabenbauer of Denver Athletics and Christopher Day of CMU Sports Information contributed to this report

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