DeWITT, Ill. – Freshman Jenna Topott picked up her first career podium and the Denver Pioneers had all three of their triathletes place in the top 16 on Saturday morning at the Prairie State Cup at Clinton Lake State Recreations Area.
 
DU had several memorable performances in the two-wave race that was hosted by Millikin University, led by Topott placing third overall with a time of 1:03:34 and winning the initial A wave to begin the collegiate cup.
 
The Allen, Texas, native used the eighth-fastest bike split at 31:12 to climb through the field before posting a time of 19:57 on a run course that was slightly longer than the usual 5K. The last Denver freshman to place on the podium during the regular season was Ava Pfaff at the 2024 Southern Hills Super Sprint at the last to do it in a full sprint event was Maira Carreau in her 2023 National Championship victory.
 
Senior captain Elizabeth Harita finished fifth overall by clocking in at 1:03:51, good for third-best among all D-I athletes. The Anaheim, California, native had a strong start by being part of the lead pack out of water, registering the fourth-fastest swim with a 11:09 split.
 
For Harita, it was her sixth career top-five finish and first in a regular-season sprint meet since the 2022 Cal Bearathlon.
 
Freshman Lucrezia Gowdy recorded a career-best result in 16th with a time of 1:05:16, which included her posting the fastest splits in the 750-meter swim (11:16), 20K bike (31:16) and run of at least 5K (22:07) in her collegiate career.
 
Despite not fielding a full team for the race, Denver still put together a solid showing with the second-best finish among Division-I squads and ninth overall. Drury University was the overall team winner, while San Francisco was second. D-I South Dakota, which also only had three individuals race, came in 15th.
 
Drury's Eszter Vas won the overall individual title in a time of 1:02:33 while teammate Alexis Workman was second in 1:03:16, just 18 seconds ahead of Topott.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Denver now turns it attention to the Western Regional Championships on Sunday, Oct. 26 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Pioneers know the course well at Marine Creek Reservoir as they raced there each of the past two seasons in the TCU-hosted Battle in the Fort Triathlon.
 
THE COURSE: Saturday's race began with a U-shaped, 750-meter swim off Clinton Beach before the triathletes transitioned to the bike, which featured four laps of a straight, out-and-back course on Mascoutin Road for about 20 kilometers (12 miles). The run was also 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.
 
WEATHER: The air temperature at the 9 a.m. local CT start was 51 degrees Fahrenheit with mostly sunny skies.
 
RESULTS:
Denver Triathletes
3. Jenna Topott, 1:03:34 (11:38/0:28/31:12/0:21/19:57) – 108 points
5. Elizabeth Harita, 1:03:51 (11:09/0:20/31:52/0:22/20:11) – 106 points
16. Lucrezia Gowdy, 1:05:16 (11:16/0:20/31:16/0:19/22:07) – 95 points
DNS: Mia Stanley-Hunt
DNR: Maira Carreau, Olivia Wimberger
 
Women's Top-10 Individual Finishers (116 Entries, 6 DNFs)
1. Eszter Vas, Drury, 1:02:33 – 110 points
2. Alexis Workman, Drury – 1:03:16 109 points
3. Jenna Topott, Denver, 1:03:34 – 108 points
4. Onel Venter, San Francisco, 1:03:42 – 107 points
5. Elizabeth Harita, Denver, 1:03:51 – 106 points
6. Kristina Vestman, Drury, 1:04:05 – 105 points
7. Mackenzie Maclean, San Francisco, 1:04:07 – 104 points
8. Abbey Lotz, San Francisco, 1:04:08 – 103 points
9. Averill Payne, Cal Poly Humboldt, 1:04:10 – 102 points
10. Shinozuka Mayumi, Drury, 1:04:16 – 101 points
 
Women's Team Results
1. Drury – 544 points
2. San Francisco – 534 points
3. Colorado Mesa – 511 points
4. North Central College – 394 points
5. Black Hills State – 387 points
6. Cal Poly Humboldt – 368 points
7. Indianapolis – 362 points
8. Trine – 329 points
9. Denver – 327 points
10. Central College – 316 points
11. Willamette – 285 points
12. Northern Kentucky – 279 points
13. Roberts Wesleyan – 216 points
14. Millikin – 202 points
15. South Dakota – 197 points
16. Concordia – 165 points
17. Coe College – 121 points
18. Chicago State – 87 points