BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. – Black Hills State triathlon hosted the Black Hills Collegiate Cup Triathlon on Sunday at Belle Fourche Reservoir in very windy conditions.

Seven varsity women's collegiate teams competed in the race, which included a 600-meter swim (shortened from the traditional 750 meters due to water conditions caused by the wind), followed by an 18K bike (that included a multi-bike crash) and a 5K run.

"We had some really good racing today against a very talented field, and unfortunately had three athletes on our team go down in a multi-bike crash," said Head Coach Connie Feist.

Maite Kustner from the University of San Francisco won the race in a time of 59:11, followed by Maria Carreau from Denver University in 59:15 and Kayla Ribbink from University of South Dakota in 59:48.  

Top team honors went to San Francisco with 216 points. Denver was second place team with 208 points, and South Dakota rounded out the podium in third, also with 208 points.

Colorado Mesa University came in fourth with 181 points, Black Hills State was fifth place team with 129 points, Cal Poly Humboldt was sixth with 50 points and MSU Billings finished seventh with 28 points.

Lilja McKendry was the top finisher for the Yellow Jackets in 12th place in a time of 1:02:15. Natalie Moose-Elkin was the next finisher for BHSU in 22nd place in 1:05:56 and Sydney Gasper was the team's third finisher in 26th place in 1:06:43.

Cassidy Teeslink was able to get up from the crash and continue the race, finishing in 35th place. Lilly Brophy and Anna Austad were not able to finish the race due to the bike crash.

Rounding out the finishers for Black Hills State were freshman Sydney Campbell who had an outstanding race finishing in 36th place and Madelynn Potter finishing right behind in 37^th.

"We were happy to host a successful event this weekend and the team is now focusing on their Nationals Qualifier Race being held in Springfield, Missouri on October 14," said Feist.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will run at the West Regional Qualifier on Sunday, Oct. 15 in Springfield, Mo.