HOT SPRINGS, S.D. – The No. 7 nationally-ranked Black Hills State University women's triathlon team got out to a strong start to the 2025 season as they competed at the Southern Hills Triathlon on Saturday morning. Four Yellow Jackets posted a career-best time in the super sprint distance, while three others competed at the distance for the first times in their careers. Payton Sheehan, one of two returning national qualifiers from a year ago, led the Green & Gold with a 35^th place finish and a time of 35:12. As a team BHSU finished eighth with 84 team points, competing against five nationally-ranked NCAA Division I programs and one other nationally-ranked DII squad.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In her second appearance at the Southern Hills Triathlon, sophomore Payton Sheehan led the Yellow Jackets and improved her super sprint time by nearly two minutes compared to last year's season opener. She began the day as the first BHSU athlete out of the water with a time of 6:20 in the 375-meter swim and then breezed through transition one with a time of just 20 seconds. In the 10-kilometer bike she set a pace of 21.35 miles per hour and posted the fastest time by a Yellow Jacket at 17:26. She closed the race with another quick transition time of 21 seconds and then clocked a time of 10:47 in the 2.5-kilometer run. Overall, she was 35^th and notched a time of 35:12.
• Scarlett Walsh also made a significant jump at the Southern Hills Triathlon, shaving over three minutes off her time from a year ago in the super sprint. She was second out of the water for BHSU, clocking a swim time of 6:29 before going through transition one in just 26 seconds. In the bike portion of the race, she reached a speed of 20.22 miles per hour, posting the second-fastest time by a Yellow Jacket at 18:25. She closed the race with a time of 24 seconds in transition two before crossing the finish line with a time of 10:35 in the run. Overall, she was 44^th with a time of 36:16.
• Sydney Campbell was third in the lineup for Black Hills State, improving her time by 42 seconds from a year ago at the super sprint distance. She opened the day with a 375-meter swim time of 7:11 and ran through transition one in just 24 seconds. She then clocked a time of 19:44 in the 10-kilometer bike, reaching a speed of 19.29 miles per hour. In the final stages of the race, she sped through transition two with the second-fastest time of just 22 seconds and then closed the day with the fastest 2.5-kilometer run by a BHSU athlete as she crossed the line in 10:30. Overall, she finished 48^th with a time of 38:09.
• Running fourth in the lineup for the Green & Gold was Chantel Bickler, who posted a time more than three minutes faster than last year in the super sprint at the Southern Hills Triathlon. She started the day with a time of 7:34 in the swim and ran through transition one in 26 seconds. She then proceeded to post the third-fastest bike time by a Yellow Jacket at 19:17, reaching a speed of 19.29 miles per hour. She concluded the day with a time of 30 seconds through transition two and crossed the finish line with a running time of 11:09. Overall, she finished 50^th with a time of 38:54.
• Making her return to triathlon for the first time since 2023, Lilly Brophy competed in her first career super sprint race. While this was her third time competing at the Southern Hills Triathlon, the event in 2022 and 2023 were still a sprint distance. In her first race back, she started strong with the third-fastest 375-meter swim time of 6:52 for the Yellow Jackets and then matched BHSU's fastest transition one time in just 20 seconds. In the 10-kilometer bike she notched a time of 21:16, cruising through the hills at a speed of 17.5 miles per hour. She capped the day by going through transition two in just 22 seconds and crossing finish line with a 2.5-kilometer run time of 12:28. Overall, she finished 53^rd with a time of 41.15.
• Incoming freshman Hannah Longmire completed her first career collegiate draft-legal race. She began the day recording a time of 9:52 during the swim and then made it through transition one in 1:06. She then proceeded to post a time of 23:59 during the bike, reaching a speed of 15.52 miles per hour before reaching the final stages of the race. She ran through transition two in 1:00 and then completed the run in 12:15. Overall, she was 54^th with a time of 48:10.
• Also completing her first career collegiate draft-legal race was sophomore Ava Elliott. She started the morning with a swim of 8:59 and raced through transition one in a time of 39 seconds. She reached a speed of 15:46 during the bike portion of the race, posting a time 24:04. In the final stages of the race, she made it through transition two in a time of 35 seconds and then crossed the finish line for a time of 13:58 in the run. Overall, she was 55^th with a time of 48:13.

BLACK HILLS STATE RESULTS

Place	Name	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total Time
35.	Payton Sheehan	6:20	0:20	17:26	0:21	10:47	35:12
44.	Scarlett Walsh	6:29	0:26	18:25	0:24	10:35	36:16
48.	Sydney Campbell	7:11	0:24	19:44	0:22	10:30	38:09
50.	Chantel Bickler	7:34	0:26	19:17	0:30	11:09	38:54
53.	Lilly Brophy	6:52	0:20	21:16	0:22	12:28	41:15
54.	Hannah Longmire	9:52	1:06	23:59	1:00	12:15	48:10
55.	Ava Elliott	8:59	0:39	24:04	0:35	13:58	48:13

 
TEAM RESULTS

1. T-#1 Arizona (D1)	248
2. #4 TCU (D1)	227
3. T-#1 Arizona State (D1)	207
4. #8 South Dakota (D1)	194
5. #5 Denver (D1)	169
6. #3 Colorado Mesa (D2)	120
7. San Francisco (D1)	102
8. #7 Black Hills State (D2)	84

 
HEAD COACH KATIE CHRISTY INTERVIEW


PAYTON SHEEHAN & SCARLETT WALSH INTERVIEW


UP NEXT
Black Hills State will face their first sprint distance (750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run) race of the season next time out when they travel to Loma, Colorado, for the Desert's Edge Triathlon. The event will take place at the Highline Lake State Park on Sunday, September 14.