BELLE FOURCHE, S.D.— Shannon Feran and Natalie Mitchell both recorded top-10 individual finishes to lead the Colorado Mesa University Maverick triathlon team to a fourth place overall finish in the team standings at the Black Hills Collegiate Cup here on Sunday afternoon.  The Mavs also led all four NCAA Division II teams in the 7-team overall field with 181 points.
 
Feran placed seventh with a time of one hour, one minute, 5.1 seconds while Mitchell took tenth in 1:01.54.4.  They were also the top two Division II finishers.
 
Nadine Klive was just a little further back, placing 13^th in 1:02.31.6 while Torin Lackmann, 24^th in 1:06.04.1 and Emma Polenske, 25^th in 1:06.34.8 rounded out the Mavs' team score, based on each team's top five finishers.
 
The University of San Francisco Dons had the individual winner in Maite Kustner and took the team crown with 216 points, 51 of which came from Kustner.  Denver and South Dakota tied for second with 208 as each had a triathlete break the hour mark.  Denver's Maria Carreau was second in 59:15.4, just 4.1 seconds behind Kustner's winning time of 59:11.3.  South Dakota's Kayla Ribbink was third in 59:48.9.
 
The host Black Hills State Yellow Jackets took fifth in the team standings with 129 points while Cal Poly Humboldt was sixth with 50 points.  MSU Billings had just two finishers and finished seventh with 28.
 
Feran came out of the water after a 750-meter loop around the Belle Fourche Reservoir at the Rocky Point Reservoir in tenth place in 7:14.3, just two seconds behind Klive, who was in eighth place after the swim.
 
Meanwhile, Mitchell (31:25.8), Feran (32:02.8) and Klive (32:02.8) were all amongst the top 10 fastest cyclists over the 2-loop, 18-kiometer bike segment.  Feran then had the seventh fastest 5K run in the 51-triathlete field, finishing that part of the event in 20:37.3.
 
The Mavs had nine total finishers as Abby Croasdell (1:07:07.5), Fiona Graves (1:07.18.3), Yoana Tohom (1:09.39.6) and Maha Akl ­(1:11.52.5) placed 28^th, 29^th, 34^th and 38^th, respectively.
 
CMU will now turn its attention to the championship portion of the season, competing at the Women's Collegiate Triathlon West National Qualifier in Springfield, Missouri on Oct. 14.  That event, part of the Heartland Triathlon Cup, will qualify teams and individuals for the Nov. 11 national championships in Tempe, Arizona.
 
The Mavs have won the last four NCAA Division II West Region team titles and placed second at the national meet last year.