GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's triathlon team will commence the 2025 season this Saturday morning, when the Mavs head to the Angostura State Recreation Area near Hot Springs, South Dakota for the Southern Hills Collegiate Cup.
 
The Mavericks are one of eight NCAA programs expected to compete in the College Sprint race at 7:15 a.m. the first of a morning-long triathlon community festival of events, including youth, age group and Olympic Distance waves.
 
A look at the course
 
Saturday's sprint race will feature a 375-meter swim off Breakers Beach followed by a 10-kilometer bike leg and 2.5K run in the Angostura State Recreation Area, half the distances of a normal collegiate distance race.  The cycling and running segments are both on up-and-back course.
 
Course maps and information can be found here.
 
Who is Competing
 
The Mavericks and fourth year head coach Jen Mathe plan to send their full roster of 12 triathletes to Saturday's race.
 
The Mavericks are slated to compete against a top-notch field including Arizona, Arizona State, Black Hills State, Denver, San Francisco, South Dakota and TCU.
 
The top five finishers for each team will contribute to the team score while the sixth and seventh will displace scorers from other teams.
 
In the Rankings
 
The Mavericks were picked third in the Division II portion of the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association's Preseason Poll, released last week, after taking fourth at last year's national championships. 
 
Black Hills State is ranked seventh.
 
Saturday's race will also include five of the top eight teams in the Division I preseason poll, including co No. 1's Arizona and Arizona State.  No. 4 TCU, No. 5 Denver and No. 8 South Dakota are also slated to compete.
 
A look back to 2024
 
The Mavericks wrapped up the 2024 season with a fourth place finish in the Division II standings at the Women's Collegiate Triathlon Championships, contested in Clermont, Florida.  Senior Shannon Feran, then freshman Mackenzie Mayer and senior Torin Lackmann all claimed all-America honors.
 
The event was contested in two separate locations over two days due to damage from hurricanes that hit the area earlier in the fall and saw the triathletes contest the swimming portion on Friday, Nov. 8 before contesting the bike and run segments the following day (Saturday, Nov. 9) with a staggered pursuit style start based on the swimming results.

Four weeks prior, the Mavericks had placed second at the West National Qualifier in Springfield, Missouri.  Maverick freshman Shanelle Tupaz took second in that event and was named as the CTCA's All-West Freshman.  The effort also placed her in the top wave for the national meet but away from the rest of her Maverick teammates, who raced in the second wave at the national meet.
 
Feran, who was unable to finish at the regional due to illness, led the Mavericks at the national meet, placing ninth amongst Division II triathletes to earn a fourth straight CTCA All-America honor to make her the most decorated Maverick in program history.
 
Mayer, who returns to help lead the Mavs in 2025, was 18^th amongst Division II finishers and claimed Honorable Mention All-America Honors as did Lackmann, who was 21^st.  Now senior Nadine Klive finished 22^nd and was just one spot shy of a third consecutive all-America finish.
 
Familiar Opening
 
The Mavs will open up the season for the fourth time in five years at the Southern Hills Triathlon.  They also competed in last year's meet, finishing fifth out of six teams with 126 points.
 
Shannon Feran was the Mavs' top finisher, placing 14^th with a time of 33:58.  Shantelle Tupaz was the next finisher, placing 21^st in 34:57.
 
Returning Mavs Mackenzie Mayer (39^th, 38:02), Nadine Klive (41^st, 39:17) and Jaycee Stephens (46th, 42:02) also competed last year.
 
Breaking Down the Roster
 
Jen Mathe, who begins her fourth season in charge of the Maverick program, returns seven triathletes to the 2025 roster and has added five new newcomers.
 
She has three seniors, five sophomores and four freshman and returns the services of four triathletes who were amongst the 7-woman squad at the national meet last year.
 
Additionally, three returning Mavs have won a combined four CTCA All-America honors in their careers.  That list includes 2-time all-American Nadine Klive, a second team performer in 2022 and an honorable mention selection in 2023.  Josie Williams was an honorable mention performer in 2022 while Mackenzie Mayer earned a similar honor last year.
 
The list of seniors includes Fiona Graves, Klive and Williams.
 
Mayer and Shantelle Tupaz, a returning all-region and the CTCA Region Freshman of the Year pick, lead the group of sophomores, which also includes 2024 Paralympian Emma Meyers, Jaycee Stephens and transfer Kaia Merrill, who competed for Arizona State last year.
 
Sylvie Aardema Gagnon, Macy Arch, Ellayna Potter and Alexandra Schipai make up the group of four freshman.
 
The Maverick roster represents seven different states and two European countries in Estonia (Schipai) and Germany (Klive).  The most represented states include Colorado (Potter, Williams), Utah ((Mayer, Merrill) and Texas (Arch, Graves).  Mavericka also hail from California (Tupaz), Florida (Mayer), Virginia (Aardema Gagnon) and Wisconsin (Stephens).
 
Powerhouse Program

The Mavericks have won five West Regional titles and have finished no lower than second in the region since starting their program in 2017.  They have also finished amongst the top four Division II teams at the Women's Collegiate Triathlon Championships in each of the last six seasons dating back to 2018 after placing ninth overall in 2017, when separate divisional standings were not kept.

Team History
 
The Mavs have placed second at the national meet on two separate occasions (2018, 2022).
 
They have also crowned 18 CTCA Division II All-Americans since first fielding a team in 2017 and have had three Regional Individual Champions and 19 CTCA All-Region selections.

Program Honors/Awards
 
A look ahead
 
Saturday's race is the first of five on the Mavericks' fall season schedule.  They will be in action close to home on Sunday, Sept. 14) competing in the Desert's Edge Collegiate Cup at Highline State Park in Loma, a race that is expected to include most of the same competition the Mavs will face this weekend.
 
The Mavs will then wrap up the cup season on Oct. 4 at the Prairie State Collegiate Cup in Dewitt, Illinois in what will be their longest trip of the season.
 
They will then compete at the West Regional Championships in Forth Worth, Texas on Oct. 26 before wrapping up the fall season at the national championships, which return to Tempe, Arizona this year on Nov. 8.