(MSU Billings release)
HUDDLESTON, Vir. – Both Montana State University Billings triathletes, Maddy Terwilliger and Madison Chavez competed in the NCAA West Region Qualifier Saturday afternoon at Smith Mountain Reservoir in Huddleston, Virginia. Though the ‘Jackets do not have a large enough team to score team points in their inaugural season, Chavez placed 18th individually among a 39 athlete Division II field and Terwilliger took 22nd for MSUB.
The race was separately scored among NCAA Divisions. However, Division I and Division II athletes competed at the same time beginning at 12 p.m. and consisted of a 67-player field. Chavez posted a 12:35 swim, 36:02.00 bicycle, and 21:37 run to the finish in 1:12.59 total time. Terwilliger was close behind with a 14:52 swim, 28:56.00 bike, and 23:53 run for a total time of 1:20.20.
“Overall we had some very solid efforts from both ladies today,” said head coach Kevin Bjerke. “They both swam well, but we still need to get a bit better in the water to position ourselves better for the bike leg. But considering our relatively poor positioning versus the field on the bike, both ladies biked very strong, and came back with equally strong runs to finish well overall and move up from where we were a month ago at the West Regional. Madisan’s 5K run time was better than over half of both the DI and DII fields, so I am confident that if we can improve her swim, she is certainly a strong enough biker to stay with a faster pack to drop some significant time. Madalyn’s 5K is also improving as she bested 20 other women in the combined DI-DII field. She too has some significant room for growth.”
In the noon race, Arizona State placed first and second with four athletes in the top-10. Natalia Hidalgo-Martinez won the Division II leg with a top time of 1:00.53. Davis and Elkins College scored 14 points to take the team top spot among six scoring schools.
The Yellowjackets have completed four events in their first season of triathlon this fall, including the Southern Hills Triathlon, NCAA West Region Qualifier, Oktoberfest Triathlon, and NCAA East Region Qualifier. MSUB competed in its second draft-legal race Saturday in Virginia.
Up Next: The final race of the fall season is the NCAA National Championship, set for November 16 at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona. MSUB will then continue its triathlon season in the spring.
