GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— 2024 Team USA Paralympian Emma Meyers turned in a fifth place time of 16 minutes and 20 seconds to lead the Colorado Mesa University women's triathlon team to a second place team score of 60 points on Tuesday in the D2 Virtual Invitational, kicking off the 2026 season.
 
Meyers, a junior on the Maverick roster, also won a similar exhibition event in the spring of 2026 and paced a group of nine Mavericks in Tuesday's virtual competition against Drury University, which took the top four places to record a winning team score of 45 points.
 
The contingent of Mavs swam 200 yards in the El Pomar Natatorium pool before riding four miles over a virtual course on stationary bikes placed on the pool deck.  The Mavs then proceeded outside and ran over a 1-kilometer on-campus course.
 
The total times from the swimming, biking and running segments, were then compared to Drury's seven athletes, who covered the same distances in their locale of Springfield, Missouri earlier in the day.
 
Transition times were not included in the final results as they set-ups differed.
 
Meyers had a swimming time of 2:26 and then led all the Mavericks on the bike with a time of 10:13.  She finished the running segment in 3:41.
 
Sophomore Alexandra Schipai had the Mavs' fastest running time of 3:28 and finished second on the team and sixth overall with a total time of 16:22, just two seconds off Meyers' combined effort.
 
Freshman Rosa Schmidt-Moll finished third on the team and seventh overall in 16:32 and matched Meyers and Macy Arch with a strong running time of 3:41.
 
Tippi Wieland was CMU's fourth finisher and place eighth in 16:39 while Arch rounded out the team scoring effort in 16:43, good for ninth place.
 
The Mavs' Sylvie Aardema Gagnon (16:53) and Shantelle Tupaz (17:17) finished 11^th and 13^th, respectively.
 
Junior Mackenzie Mayer was the first Maverick out of the pool in 2:08 and was three seconds quicker than any of the Drury Panthers but faded back to a 15^th place overall finish in 17:44.
 
Drury's Kristina Vestman had the top overall time of 15:10, defeating teammate Katharina Scherb by 40 seconds.  Vestman also had the top bike time of 9:30 and fastest running time of 3:24.
 
The Panthers were ranked third in the Division II portion of the College Triathlon Coaches Association's Preseason Poll while the Mavericks were fourth after the two teams finished in those same spots at the 2025 Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships.  They also went 1-2 at last season's West Region Championships.
 
No. 1 ranked Wingate and No. 8 Emmanuel were also scheduled to participate in the virtual competition on Tuesday but pivoted and contested their own head-to-head in-person competition.
 
The Mavericks will have a short turn-around before competing in their first traditional outdoor event on Saturday when they head to Hot Springs, South Dakota for the Southern Hills Triathlon, a staple in the Mavs' early-season schedule.  That race at the Angostura Recreation Area is slated to begin at 7:15 a.m. and is slated to include seven teams, including five of the top six teams in the Division I portion of the CTCA Preseason Poll in addition to No. 6 ranked Division II foe Black Hills State.

Final Results

Team
1. Drury- 60 (15-14-13-12-6)
2. Colorado Mesa- 45 (11-10-9-8-7)

Individual
1. Kristina Vestman, DU - 15:10
2. Katharina Scherb, DU - 15:50
3. Cayman Barnes, DU - 15:51
4. Ashleigh Thomas, DU - 16:00
5. Emma Meyers, CMU - 16:20
6. Alexandra Schipai, CMU - 16:22
7. Rosa Schmidt-Moll, CMU - 16:32
8. Tippi Wieland, CMU - 16:39
9. Mary Arch, CMU - 16:43
10. Ester Vas, DU - 16:46
11. Sylvie Aardema Gagnon, CMU - 16:53
12. Ava Sullivan, DU - 17:09
13. Shantelle Tupaz, CMU - 17:17
14. Tylor Brino-Dean, DU - 17:24
15. Mackenzie Mayer, CMU - 17:44
16. Maddie Cox, CMU - DNF (Run)