DeWITT, Ill. – The Denver Pioneers women's triathlon team heads to central Illinois on Saturday morning for the Prairie State Cup at Clinton Lake State Recreation Area.
 
It will be DU's first race in three weeks, as the Pios last competed at the Desert's Edge Triathlon on Sept. 14 at Highline Lake State Park near Grand Junction. Junior Maira Carreau placed seventh overall in that meet, and Denver placed sixth in the team standings in its first sprint triathlon in its home state since the 2022 Oktoberfest Sprint in Longmont, Colorado.
 
Division-III Millikin University is hosting this weekend's race that will feature 17 schools from across the country, including D-I squads San Francisco, South Dakota, Northern Kentucky and Chicago State.
 
Denver will have four athletes racing, with senior captain Elizabeth Harita being flanked by a trio of freshmen in Lucrezia Gowdy, Mia Stanley-Hunt and Jenna Topott.
 
Saturday's race begins at 8:15 a.m. MT and starts with a U-shaped, 750-meter swim off Clinton Beach. The racers will then transition to the bike, which features four laps of a straight, out-and-back course on Mascoutin Road for about 20 kilometers (12 miles). The run is an out-and-back course, with the triathletes doing two loops on the run/bike path adjacent to the road with an approximate distance of 3.2 miles.
 
This is the first time that Denver will race at Clinton Lake State Recreation Area.