GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's triathlon team will race for the second time this week and compete in a traditional event for the first time of the young season when they head to Hot Springs, South Dakota for Saturday morning's Southern Hills Collegiate Cup.
 
The race, which is slated to begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Breaker's Beach area of the Angostura Recreation Area, is expected to feature seven teams, including five of the top six teams in the Division I portion of the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches' Preseason Poll along with the Mavs and nearby Black Hills State, who are ranked fourth and sixth in the Division II portion of the poll, respectively.
 
Course Details
 
Saturday's collegiate race will feature 375-meter swim, 10-kilometer bike and 1.55 mile run segments.  It is part of a full morning of triathlon community action, including super sprint, Olympic, age group sprint and youth races.
 
Course maps and additional information can be seen on the event website. - https://jazzhandsrunning.com/results/results-southern-hills-tri.html
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks opened the season on Tuesday with an on-campus virtual race at the El Pomar Natatorium against West Region rival Drury, which raced in their home local of Springfield, Missouri earlier in the day.
 
Times were then compared to determine the final results, which saw Drury claim a 15-point (45-60) win while taking the top four places.
 
CMU's Emma Meyers, a 2024 Team USA Paralympian, finished fifth with a time 16 minutes and 20 seconds to lead the Mavs' effort.
 
The Mavs competed in 200 yards of swimming in the pool followed by a 4-mile virtual bike ride on stationary bikes on the pool deck.  The Mavs then exited the natatorium to run a 1-kilometer course on campus.

Drury did the same but split the swimming portion from the bike and run segments.
 
Total times were taken by combining all three segments but excluded transition times as the set-ups were not the same in both locations.
 
For a full recap of the D2 Virtual Invitational, please click here.
 
A look at the competition
 
Maverick Coach Jen Mathe, entering her fifth season with the Mavs, expects a significant challenge on Saturday against many of the top teams in the country.
 
The Southern Hills Collegiate Cup will include five NCAA Division I outfits, all of which are ranked inside the top six of the CTCA's Preseason Poll.  That list includes No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 TCU as well as Denver and San Francisco, which are tied for fourth in the poll.  No. 6 South Dakota also rounds out the list and will compete in-state along with Black Hills State, which is ranked sixth in the Division II portion of the poll.
 
The Mavs are ranked fourth in Division II.
 
Familiar Setting
 
The Mavericks will race for the fifth time in six years at the Southern Hills Collegiate Cup.  They took sixth out of eight teams in 2025 with 120 points as then senior Josie Williams took 32^nd while then freshman Sylvie Aardema Gagnon took 37^th to lead the Maverick newcomers in what was her collegiate debut.  She had a time of 35:18 last year.
 
The Mavs also raced there in 2024, placing fifth out of six teams with 126 points.  Current Maverick junior Shantelle Tupaz, a freshman at the time, was the Mavs' No. 2 finisher on that day, taking 21^st in 34:57.
 
A look back to 2025
 
The Mavericks enjoyed another strong  season in 2025 and capped the year with a fourth place finish in the Division II portion of the standings at the Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships.  The Mavs also took second amongst Division II teams at the West Regional Championships.
 
The Mavs crowned two honorable mention All-Americans through the national meet in Shantelle Tupaz, who returns for her 2026 junior campaign, and Nadine Klive, who finished her career as one of just three 3-time all-Americans in program history.
 
At the regional level, Alexandria Schipai, who also returns in 2026, was the West All-Region Freshman of the Year and was joined on the All-West Region team by Tupaz and Klive.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks were picked fourth in the Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Preseason Poll, which was released on Aug. 24.  The top five spots of the poll were a duplicate of the teams' 2025 national championship finishes and saw Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate and Drury top the poll ahead of the Mavs.  Cal Poly Humboldt was picked fifth, right behind the Mavs.
 
Black Hills State, UIndy, Emmanuel, Newberry and Concord were in the bottom half of the top-10 poll.
 
Award Streaks
 
The Mavericks will enter the 2026 season in hopes of continuing their award-winning ways.
 
The Mavs have crowned multiple all-Americans in each of the last five seasons dating back to 2021 and have claimed 19 total all-America honors in that stretch.  Two current Mavericks in Mackenzie Mayer and Shantelle Tupaz are a part of that group after both earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
 
The Mavs have also had at least one all-region performer in each of the last eight seasons since and including 2017 and have had multiple performers in all but one year of that stretch.
 
The youth movement has also been strong with six different Mavericks earning the CTCA Region Freshman of the Year honors in the last seven seasons.  Tupaz (2024) and Alexandria Schipai (2025) are current Mavericks to have earned that honor.
 
Tupaz has been an all-region performer in each of the last two years while Schipai earned that honor last year.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will return home to train for the Desert's Edge Collegiate Cup, which they will host along with the Grand Junction Sports Commission on Sunday, Sept. 27.  That race will be held at and around Highline Lake State Park in Loma, Colorado.