Pleasant Prairie, WI- The Lenoir Rhyne Women's Triathlon Team traveled to Pleasant Prairie to compete in the first NCAA triathlon of the season, one of the three races across the country, all qualifiers for nationals in Tempe, Arizona. The team secured their spot to nationals, coming away with a crushing win.

The field of teams consisted of eight total teams, five of which were DI and the other three DII. Overall, the team placed third, and finished first in the field of DII. Each team completes a sprint distance triathlon, making up a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run. Each race takes just under 70 minutes.

The scoring for the race is done by taking the overall of the top four competitors from each team. The team with the lowest score wins. Lenoir-Rhyne put all six of the teams' athletes through the finish line before Drury, the number team two, put their second athlete through.

Freshman Kayla Ribbink led the team going onto the run, after falling on the last bike loop due to a crash in front of her. Ribbink finished with a run time of 20:10, the second-best run split of the day, placing her in third place in DII. Teresa Vesely had the second-best bike split of the day, clocking a time of 32:35.

Remarked by Head Coach Bryant Howard, "Chloe [Telian] and Teresa [Vesely] worked together to consolidate a pack of them together". This allowed the group to attack off the bike and take the next four spots, putting every athlete in the top ten for DII.

Moving forward from their win, they race at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia in October.

Division II Team Results

1. Lenoir-Rhyne University-14

2. Drury University-28

3. Daemon College- NA
 

LR Finishers (Place)

1. Kayla Ribbink (1:05:30/3rd)

2. Franziska Neck (1:06:21/4th)

3. Teresa Vesely (1:06:24/5th)

4. Chloe Telian (1:07:51/6th)

5. Nanette Nikolajsen (1:08:31/7th)

6. Sayti Plank (1:09:27/8th)