The Women’s Collegiate Triathlon regular season concluded Saturday with the East Regional Qualifier in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, held in conjunction with the Liberty Triathlon Festival. The race marked the last opportunity for teams and individuals to qualify to compete at the Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships in Tempe, Arizona, on Nov. 4. 

Athletes completed a sprint-distance 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer draft-legal bike and 5-kilometer run. Awards were presented to the top-two teams and the top-two individuals in each NCAA Division (DI, DII and DIII). 

Queens University of Charlotte athletes Anabel Knoll and Tereza Zimovjanova were the top-two finishers overall, claiming first and second place for DII programs. Knoll recorded the only sub-1-hour performance of the day in 59 minutes, 46 seconds, and Zimovjanova crossed the line in 1:00:01. 

Arizona State University’s Audrey Ernst was third overall in 1:00:25, earning the top DI individual finish. Her Sun Devil teammate Kira Stanley was the second DI finisher across the line, finishing fourth overall with a time of 1:00:38.

The top finisher representing a DIII school was North Central College’s Katherine Canfield, who took 11th overall in 1:03:56. Another North Central competitor, Jennifer Hufnagle, was the second DIII athlete to finish. She crossed the line 19th overall with a time of 1:06:17.

ASU was the top NCAA Division I team with 12 points on the day, and East Tennessee State University took second for DI programs with 44 points. 

Queens earned 13 points to win the DII team title, and Davis & Elkins College was the DII runner-up with 91 points.

In the DIII standings, North Central College claimed the win with 52 points, while Milwaukee School of Engineering was second with 99 points. 

Davis & Elkins College and St. Thomas Aquinas University fielded varsity teams for the first time at the East Regional Qualifier. 

The Central and West Regional Qualifiers were held in Watauga, Tennessee, and Longmont, Colorado, respectively, earlier this fall. New varsity squads debuting at either the Central or West Regional Qualifier included the University of South Dakota (DI), Milwaukee School of Engineering (DIII), Transylvania University (DIII), Millikin University (DIII), Northern Vermont University (DIII) and Wagner College (DI).

For complete results for all regional qualifiers, click here. 

The NCAA named triathlon an Emerging Sport for Women in 2014, a designation that gives the sport a 10-year window to demonstrate sustainability at the NCAA level. USA Triathlon is more than halfway to its goal of recruiting 40 schools by 2024. For more information about triathlon as an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women, visit usatriathlon.org/ncaa.

Women’s Collegiate Triathlon East Regional Qualifier
Smith Mountain Lake, Va. | 750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Individual Awards by Division

Division I
1. Audrey Ernst (Arizona State University), 1:00:25
2. Kira Stanley (Arizona State University), 1:00:38

Division II
1. Anabel Knoll (Queens University of Charlotte), 59:46
2. Tereza Zimovjanova (Queens University of Charlotte), 1:00:01

Division III
1. Katherine Canfield (North Central College), 1:03:56
2. Jennifer Hufnagle (North Central College), 1:06:17

Team Awards by Division

Division I
1. Arizona State University, 12
2. East Tennessee State University, 44

Division II
1. Queens University of Charlotte, 13
2. Davis and Elkins College, 91

Division III
1. North Central College, 52 
2. Milwaukee School of Engineering, 99