DENVER – Led by an individual victory by freshman Alex Campbell, the Denver Pioneers women's triathlon team opened the 2023 campaign on Saturday morning with a team win in an aquathlon eliminator duel against in-state foe Colorado Mesa University on the DU campus.
 
The Pioneers had all five of their scorers in the eight-person final and finished with four placing inside the top five. Denver recorded 60 points while Colorado Mesa ended with 43.
 
"I think this shows that we had a great season opener, and we've been training hard," said Denver head coach Barbara Perkins. "We didn't rest at all for this, we trained throughout this week … Even a little sore and tired, they still did really great today and showed that we are a really strong and deep team. I think that gives us a little confidence opening the season and going into our first full triathlon in two weeks."
 
Making her collegiate debut, Campbell recorded a speedy mark of five minutes and 55.9 seconds to overtake Mesa's Shannon Feran in the last round. Feran posted the fastest time in qualifying and in the semifinal rounds, while Campbell was second quickest in both. The CMU athlete was first out of the 200-meter swim at the El Pomar Natatorium in the final, but Campbell was able to quickly put on her shoes in transition and take the lead prior to the nearly 1-kilometer run around the Denver Soccer Stadium and other DU sports fields.
 
"It's a tough format to go back and do it three times," Campbell said. "I think the key was to take the first two (rounds) as easy as possible because there are a lot of really good athletes here in multiple heats, so it's hard to know where you stand in each heat. Then have enough left in the tank to go all-out on the last run."
 
Campbell had a two-second lead on Feran (6:08.8) out of transition and stretched it to 13 seconds at the finish with a day's-best run split at 3:08.4; the Kingston, Ontario, native posted the only sub-six-minute total time of the morning.
 
"I just knew coming in that Alex has some pretty big talent and she proved it today," Perkins said. "She has a big running background and more swimming, so this is kind of her bread-and-butter, and I think she had some good game play going as fast as she needed to make it to the final and get a good position. She then went all-out in the last round and closed hard."
 
DU junior Clara Normand joined the two on the podium in third place (6:19.0), while sophomore Elizabeth Harita (6:21.9) and graduate student Maren York (6:23.9) rounded out the top five. Junior Olivia Ebenstein was the Pios' fifth scorer in seventh with a mark of 6:31.3.
 
While Campbell started in Lane 2 behind Feran, Normand had the biggest jump in the final after beginning in Lane 5 due to being the fifth-fastest overall in the semifinals. Normand had a 2:55 interval in the swim-and-transition split before running the 1K in 3:23 to earn her fourth career collegiate podium.
 
Nadine Klive (sixth) and Natalie Mitchell (eighth) also reached the final for the Mavericks.
 
Mitchell was the day's lucky loser as meet rules stipulate that each team is represented by at least three athletes in the final round. Six Pioneers qualified out of the semifinals, but unfortunately junior Avarie Faulkner was the odd one out with the eighth-fastest mark in the semis (6:44.2)—two seconds better than Mitchell.
 
Faulkner's semifinal result was still good enough for ninth placed overall and displaced Colorado Mesa's other two scorers. Freshman Cameron Bell joined Campbell in making her multi-sport debut in the college ranks on Saturday and came in 14th.
 
Sophomore Coco Diemar and freshman Maira Carreau did not race.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Denver is back in action in two weeks' time on Sunday, Sept. 17 for its first sprint triathlon of the season. The Pioneers will travel to Marine Creek Reservoir in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Battle in the Fort Triathlon, hosted by TCU. The Horned Frogs are in their first season of competition and among the other teams expected to participate are NCAA newcomer Arizona,  defending champion Arizona State and western foes San Francisco and South Dakota.
 
RACE FORMAT: Saturday's meet began with a qualifying round, with the results making up the starting positions for a pair of semifinal races. The day closed with eight triathletes competing in the final and seven in the consolation round.
 
THE COURSE: After two swimming laps totaling 200 meters in the El Pomar Natatorium, the athletes left the building in the adjacent doors, put on their shoes in the transition area on the west side of the complex and completed the nearly 1-kilometer (0.95) run course around the Ritchie Center sports fields.
 
WEATHER: The air temperature at the 7:45 a.m. MT start was 71 degrees Fahrenheit on the run course outside of the El Pomar Natatorium.
 
NOTES:

• Freshman Alex Campbell and Cameron Bell both made their collegiate debuts.
• Campbell posted a top-two time in all three rounds.
• Campbell and CMU's Feran combined for six (one in each round) of the 14 sub-3-minute swim-and-transition splits.
• Campbell also posted the fastest run split (3:08.4) and total time (5:55.9) during her final win.
• Sophomore Elizabeth Harita had the third-fastest marks in both qualifying and the semifinals.
• Saturday marked the second triathlon-type race on the DU campus in program history after the success of the Mile High Relays last year.
• The course was the same as the 2022 Mile High Relays.
• The seven athletes that did not qualify for the final competed in a consolation race prior to the final, but the individual placement on the final leaderboard came from the semifinal results.

RESULTS:
 
Denver Triathletes
1. Alex Campbell, DEN  – 6:20.2 QF, 6:22.3 SF, 5:55.9 F – 15 points
3. Clara Normand, DEN  –  6:38.4 QF, 6:26.8 SF, 6:19.0 F – 13 points
4. Elizabeth Harita, DEN  –  6:23.0 QF, 6:23.4, SF 6:21.9 F – 12 points
5. Maren York, DEN  –  6:39.3 QF, 6:27.0 SF, 6:23.9 F – 11 points
7. Olivia Ebenstein, DEN  – 6:31.1 QF, 6:24.4 SF, 6:39.2 F – 9 points
9. Avarie Faulkner, DEN  –  6:47.6 QF, 6:44.2 SF, 6:40.4 Con – 7 points
14. Cameron Bell, DEN  –  7:22.2 QF, 7:16.5 SF, 7:23.9 Con – 2 points
Did Not Race: Maira Carreau, Coco Diemar
 
Women's Individual Finishers (16 Entries, 1 DNF)
1. Alex Campbell, DEN  – 6:20.2 QF, 6:22.3 SF, 5:55.9 F – 15 points
2. Shannon Feran, CMU  –  6:14.5 QF, 6:16.2 SF, 6:08.8 F – 14 points
3. Clara Normand, DEN  –  6:38.4 QF, 6:26.8 SF, 6:19.0 F – 13 points
4. Elizabeth Harita, DEN  –  6:23.0 QF, 6:23.4, SF 6:21.9 F – 12 points
5. Maren York, DEN  –  6:39.3 QF, 6:27.0 SF, 6:23.9 F – 11 points
6. Nadine Klive, CMU  –  6:33.8 QF, 6:30.6 SF, 6:31.3 F – 10 points
7. Olivia Ebenstein, DEN  – 6:31.1 QF, 6:24.4 SF, 6:39.2 F – 9 points
*8. Natalie Mitchell, CMU  –  6:46.7 QF, 6:46.1 SF, 6:50.9 F – 8 points
*9. Avarie Faulkner, DEN  –  6:47.6 QF, 6:44.2 SF, 6:40.4 Con – 7 points
10. Josie Williams, CMU  –  6:54.1 QF, 6:48.5 SF, 6:50.2 Con – 6 points
11. Torin Lackman, CMU  –  7:18.8 QF, 6:59.5 SF, 7:14.2 Con – 5 points
12. Emma Polenske, CMU  –  7:01.7 QF, 7:02.6 SF, 6:59.4 Con – 4 points
13. Fiona Graves, CMU  –  6:58.5 QF, 7:06.7 SF, 6:38.5 Con – 3 points
14. Cameron Bell, DEN  –  7:22.2 QF, 7:16.5 SF, 7:23.9 Con – 2 points
15. Abby Croasdell, CMU  –  7:34.0 QF, 7:28.2 SF, 7:31.8 Con – 1 point
 
*CMU Natalie Mitchell advanced ahead of DU's Avarie Faulkner in the semifinals due to meet rules that each team is represented by at least three athletes in the final.
 
Women's Team Results
1. Denver – 60 points
2. Colorado Mesa – 43 points

 
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