SPEARFISH, S.D. – The No. 4 Black Hills State University women's triathlon team looks to build off the momentum of a second place finish in their last meet a few weeks ago, as they look for another strong showing at the NCAA West Region Qualifier. The Yellow Jackets recorded a third place finish a year ago in the race and qualified seven for the national championships, including five athletes that return for this season. The race will be split up into two waves at Fellows Lake in Springfield, Missouri, with the "B Wave" starting first at 9 a.m. MST, followed by the "A Wave" at 11 a.m. MST.
 
RACE DETAILS
Date & Time: Saturday, October 12 – "B Wave" at 9 a.m. MST – "A Wave" at 11 a.m. MST
Location: Springfield, Mo. – Fellows Lake
Sprint: 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run
 
NO. 4 BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State is coming off a second place finish in a 12 team field at the Prairie State Cup where they tallied 260 points with nine athletes finishing in the upper half of the players leaderboard.
• Black Hills State enters their third race of the 2024 season ranked No. 16 nationally among all divisions as well as No. 4 nationally in Division II in the latest Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association (CTCA) rankings release.
• Keira Wilkinson has paced the Yellow Jackets throughout the season so far, recording a 27^th place finish at the Southern Hills Triathlon (super sprint), followed by a sixth place finish at the Prairie State Cup where she recording a 750m swim time of 12:54, a 20K bike time of 32:24, and a 5K run time of 23:21, for a total time of 1:09:27 after adding in transition time.
• Jadyn Johnson made her season debut in the last race in Illinois, posting a top-15 finish with a 13^th place mark with a swim time of 14:12, bike time of 33:21, and a run time of 22:27 for an overall time of 1:11:07.
• Rounding out the top trio of athletes for BHSU is Natalie Moose-Elkin, who notched a 31^st place finish in the super spring at the Southern Hills Triathlon, followed by a 16^th place finish at the Prairie State Cup with time of 12:56 in the swim, 34:14 in the bike, and 24:12 in the run for an overall time of 1:12:18.
• In last year's West Regional, Black Hills State recorded a third place team finish out of five NCAA Division II programs competing in Springfield and was eight overall out of 16 total teams competing. The Yellow Jackets have five returners that qualified for the national championships, including Moose-Elkin, Johnson, Sydney Gasper, Cassidy Teeslink, and Sydney Campbell.
• Competing in the "A Wave" of this year's race will be Wilkinson, Johnson, Moose-Elkin, Payton Sheehan, Teeslink, Campbell, and Scarlett Walsh, while competing in the "B Wave" of the race will be Gasper, Anna Austad, and Chantel Bickler.
• Connie Feist has been with the program since its inception in 2014 and is in her ninth season as head coach after taking over in 2016.