GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After two weekends off, the Colorado Mesa University triathlon team will resume their season with what is their longest trip of the season as the Mavericks head to Dewitt, Illinois for Saturday morning's Prairie State Cup.
 
The NCAA Collegiate Cup race in and around Clinton Lake will be CMU's third and final cup race of the regular season and will included a 750-meter swim, 12-mile bike and 3.2-mile run. 
 
The first of two scheduled waves will get underway at 9:15 a.m. CDT (8:15 a.m. Mountain) with the second wave to follow.  All of the Mavs will race in Wave 1.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks made program history last month, hosting the Desert's Edge Collegiate Cup in conjunction with the Grand Junction Sports Commission at Highline Lake State Park on Sept. 14.
 
The Mavericks finished seventh as a team with 145 points against a loaded field that included six NCAA Division I institutions, including five of the nation's top-ranked squads.
 
Estonian freshman Alexandra Schipai led the Mavericks in her collegiate debut with a time of one hour, eight minutes 20 seconds to place 32^nd in the field of 66.
 
Arizona State, which won seven straight national titles until taking second last year, won the team scoring chase with 276 points while defending national champion and preseason national poll No. 1 Arizona took second with 283.
 
Arizona's Kelly Wetteland took the individual win with a time of 1:02.48, 24 seconds quicker than Arizona State's Kelly Ruff as the Sun Devils put three in the top four.
 
A complete race recap and full results can be seen here.
 
Who's Competing
 
The Mavericks plan to send 11 of their 12-person roster to Saturday's meet, according to head coach Jen Mathe.  Sophomore Mackenzie Mayer will miss the trip.
 
The Mavs are one of 18 teams expected to compete on Saturday.  The field includes six NCAA Division II teams as the Mavs will get to see Black Hills State, Cal Poly Humboldt, Drury, Indianapolis and Roberts Wesleyan. 

The Mavs have finished higher than Black Hills State at both of their previous meets but will see the others for the first time this season.
 
Chicago State, Denver, Northern Kentucky, San Francisco and South Dakota will represent the Division I portion of the field.  The Mavs have raced against Denver, San Francisco and South Dakota at both of the first two meets of the season as well.
 
Central (Iowa), Coe, Concordia (Wisc.), Millikin, North Central, Trine and Willamette are the seven Division III teams expected to compete.  North Central won last year's Division III national title.
 
About the Course
 
Saturday's draft-legal race will include a 750-meter swim in the Clinton Lake followed by the 12-mile bike segment over four laps on an out-and-back loop.  The 3.2-mile run will be contested on two laps of an out-and-back loop.
 
Maps can be seen by scrolling down the main event webpage.
 
In the Rankings
 
The Mavs have remained in the No. 13 spot of the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association's overall national rankings for the second straight week.  They also continue to be the third highest ranked Division II squad in the latest rankings, released on Wednesday.
 
The Mavs have 456.12 points in the team rankings, which are calculated by adding each team's top five individual ranking scores.
 
Nine of the top 20 teams in the country, including the Mavs, are expected to compete in Saturday's event.  No. 3 San Francisco, No. 9 South Dakota and No. 10 Denver are the only three teams ahead of the Mavs in the rankings.
 
No. 14 Drury, No. 16 North Central, No. 18 Black Hills State, No. 19 Trine and No. 20 Indianapolis are also inside the top 20.
 
Alexandra Schipai is 67^th in the national individual rankings with 94.03 points from her Desert's Edge Cup effort.  Shantelle Tupaz (91.50), Mackenzie Mayer (90.97) and Nadine Klive (90.66) are also inside the top 100 in the 89^th, 92^nd and 96^th spots, respectively based on their times at the Desert's Edge race.  Josie Williams (88.96) is rounding out the Mavs' team ranking total and sits 106^th.  Her score came from the Southern Hills Collegiate Cup, CMU's season-opening race.
 
Race Seeding
 
The Mavs have six of the top 20 seeded triathletes in the field for Saturday's race based on the national rankings.  Alexandra Schipai is seeded fifth while Tupaz, Mayer, Klive are seeded consecutively between the No. 11-13 spots, although it is known that Mayer will not race.  Williams is 16^th while Sylvia Aardema Gagnon is 20^th.
 
The top wave has 60 triathletes entered with full lineups of several of the higher ranked teams plus the higher rated individuals from the lesser-ranked teams.
 
The results from both waves will be combined to form the overall results although it is typically a major advantage to be in the top wave as the triathletes can draft off one another during the bike segment.

Colorado Mesa turns 100
 
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will continue their season on Sunday, Oct. 26 competing in the Women's Collegiate Triathlon West Regional Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.