SPEARFISH, S.D. – For the 11^th consecutive season, the Black Hills State University women's triathlon team will be represented at the NCAA National Championships as they look to keep a streak of seven consecutive top-6 DII finishes alive. The Yellow Jackets will send five members of their team to compete in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday, November 8, which includes Payton Sheehan, Sydney Campbell, Scarlett Walsh, Lilly Brophy, and Chantel Bickler. Sheehan, Campbell, Walsh, and Brophy will all compete in the B Wave, while Bickler will compete in the C Wave.

The pair of Sydney Campbell and Payton Sheehan are set to make return appearances at the national championships, as Campbell qualifies for the third time and Sheehan for the second time. Campbell finished 110^th in 2023 and 114^th in 2024 among competitors in all three divisions, while Sheehan was 107^th overall in 2024. The duo has already posted career-best sprint distance times at the Prairie State Cup, as Sheehan improved her time by nearly nine minutes to clock a time of 1:05:55 and Campbell turned in a mark of 1:11:02.

First time national qualifiers for Black Hills State includes Scarlett Walsh, Lilly Brophy, and Chantel Bickler. Walsh, a sophomore, will make her first appearance at the national championships after finishing second in the team lineup in three of the four races this season, and posting a career-best sprint distance time by nearly seven and a half minutes at the Prairie State Cup as she notched a time of 1:09:26. Bickler was the fourth Yellow Jacket to post a career-best time at the Prairie State Cup as she recorded a time of 1:18:11, while Brophy in her first season back competing in triathlon added a season-best time of 1:17:47 at the Prairie State Cup.

The event returns to Tempe, Arizona, for the sixth time in its history on Saturday, November 8, as the top teams and triathletes converge on the Tempe Town Lake course.