LOMA, Colo. – Junior captain Maira Carreau led the Denver Pioneers on Sunday morning at Highline Lake State Park with a seventh-place finish in the Desert's Edge Triathlon.
 
Carreau earned her second top 10 of the season and the 10th of her career by finishing the collegiate cup race in 1:04:09.
 
The La Prairie, Quebec, native was 20th out of the water (11:53) with the swim being closer to 900 meters in length instead of the usual 750 meters that the collegians usually race in for the sprint distance. Carreau made up time with the third-fastest bike split (31:57) before running the 5K in 19:06, 10th fastest among the field.
 
She finished six seconds behind sixth-place Josi Seerig of San Francisco (1:04:03) and was three seconds ahead of South Dakota's Chelsea Webber in eighth (1:04:12).
 
Freshman Jenna Topott was DU's second scorer in 30th (1:08:00) while senior captain Elizabeth Harita was close behind in 33rd (1:08:31). Two rookies rounded out the scoring for DU as Lucrezia Gowdy placed 37th (1:10:07) and Mia Stanley-Hunt was 42nd (1:11:45) in her NCAA triathlon debut, and fellow freshman Olivia Wimberger finished 57th in her first collegiate sprint (1:19:49)
 
Denver came in sixth in the team standings with 201 points, with Arizona State picking up the overall victory with 295 points. Arizona joined its in-state foe on the podium with 283 points while San Francisco finished third with 276 points.
 
Arizona's Kelly Wetteland earned her second individual victory of the season by completing the course in 1:02:48. Arizona State had four finishers in the top 10 and two on the podium with Naomi Ruff in second (1:03:12) and Sidney Clement in third (1:03:26).
 
Sunday marked the first full sprint distance of the season after the same eight teams that raced at the Colorado State Park west of Grand Junction also participated in the Southern Hills Triathlon super sprint event on Aug. 30 in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
 
Denver was racing in its fifth collegiate event in Colorado in program history and its first full-sprint meet since the 2022 Oktoberfest Sprint at Union Reservoir in Longmont. The Pioneers' last in-state race was the Aquathlon Eliminator duel against Colorado Mesa on the DU campus to start the 2023 season.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Denver will now have three weeks between races as the Pioneers next head to DeWitt, Illinois, for their final collegiate cup race of the 2025 season on Saturday, Oct. 4 in the Prairie State Cup at Clinton State Recreation Area. The team then heads to Western Regionals in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26 and the National Championships on Nov. 8 in Tempe, Arizona.
 
THE COURSE: Beginning with an in-water start in wetsuits, the race began with a one-lap, triangular swim around two buoys in Highline Lake, with the distance being slightly longer than normal at nearly 900 meters. The competitors transitioned onto the bike and into a large, two-lap rectangular loop out of the park and to the south. The cyclists headed west on R Road before working their way over to 10 Road via 10 1/2 and Q 3/4 Roads. They then head south on 10 Road before making their way back east along Q Road and north up 11 8/10 Road. After the second lap, the racers re-entered the park and for a one-lap out-and-back run that started from the lake's southeast edge and went around the south of the reservoir before going north along the western shore. The 5K run had approximately 119 feet of elevation gain and finished across the dam on the southern edge and back to the transition area near the campground.
 
WEATHER: The air temperature at the start a little after 7:30 a.m. a.m. MT start was 50 degrees Fahrenheit with sunny conditions a slight breeze. Fog was present in the nearby valleys.
 
 
RESULTS
Denver Triathletes
7. Maira Carreau, 1:04:09 (11:53/0:38/31:57/0:37/19:06) – 60 points*
30. Jenna Topott, 1:08:00 (12:07/0:54/33:40/0:43/20:39) – 40 points*
33. Elizabeth Harita, 1:08:31 (12:00/0:48/33:55/0:36/21:14) – 37 points*
37. Lucrezia Gowdy, 1:10:07 (12:23/0:47/33:29/0:48/22:43) – 34 points*
42. Mia Stanley-Hunt, 1:11:45 (12:32/0:52/37:42/0:46/19:56) – 30 points*
57. Olivia Wimberger, 1:19:49 (12:23/0:47/41:42/0:48/24:11) – 21 points
DNR: Coco Diemar
 * - denotes scorer
 
Women's Individual Top-10 Finishers (66 Entries, 4 DNFs)
1. Kelly Wetteland, Arizona, 1:02:48 – 66 points
2. Naomi Ruff, Arizona State, 1:03:12 – 65 points
3. Sidney Clement, Arizona State, 1:03:26 – 64 points
4. Alexandra Campbell, Arizona State, 1:03:42 – 63 points
5. Ruth Pardy, Arizona, 1:04:01 – 62 points
6. Josi Seerig, San Francisco, 1:04:03 – 61 points
7. Maira Carreau, Denver, 1:04:09 – 60 points
8. Chelsea Webber, South Dakota, 1:04:12 – 59 points
9. Maite Kustner, San Francisco, 1:04:13 – 58 points
10. Britney Brown, Arizona State, 1:04:17 – 57 points
 
Women's Team Results
1. Arizona State – 295 points
2. Arizona – 283 points
3. San Francisco – 276 points
4. TCU – 233 points
5. South Dakota – 212 points
6. Denver – 201 points
7. Colorado Mesa – 160 points
8. Black Hills State – 112 points