SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, VA. -- The Trine University women's triathlon team recorded at top-five effort with a four-place finish at the NCAA Women's Collegiate Triathlon East Regional Qualifier held in Smith Mountain Lake, Va.
The Thunder ended the day with a team score of 39 points to finish fourth of seven Division III schools. North Central (Ill.) College finished first with 11 points, followed by Millikin (Ill.) University in second place with 25 points. Milwaukee School of Engineering was third with 32 points.
Freshman Amira Faulkner (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) had the best cumulative time of the event for the Thunder at 1:07:20. Faulkner began the competition with a time of 10:38 in the swim, then followed with one of the top marks in the bike at 32:43. She ended her race with a time of 21:21 in the run portion and placed second overall among 51 total athletes competing. For her efforts, Faulkner earned her second Regional honors by finishing in the top three. She was also garnered her second award this season as the top finishing freshman in regional competition.
Sophomore Kyra Warren (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) was second to finish for Trine and was 15th overall after turning in an overall mark of 1:16:09. Warren started off with a time of 13:50 in the swim and followed with a time of 36:47 in the bike and then wrapped up with a time of 22:47 in the run.
Junior Tori Klingsmith (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) was third on the team after posting times of 15:34 in the swim, 36:20 in the bike and 24:44 in the run to finish with an overall time of 1:19:20 which was good enough for 24th place. Freshman Samantha Weaver (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) finished just behind Klingsmith in 25th place after completing the event with a cumulative time of 1:20:21. Weaver had a time of 12:24 in the swim and then 37:54 in the bike. Weaver posted a mark of 26:56 in the final segment, the 5k run.
Completing the field of Trine competitors to finish the race was freshman Cameron Hoellrich (New Bavaria, Ohio/Holgate). Hoellrich placed 34th with her collective time of 1:24:41. Hoellrich completed the 750-meter swim in a time of 14:59 and then biked the 20k course in a mark of 37:46 and then ran 5k in a time of 29:01.
Trine's final scheduled event of the season will be the Collegiate Triathlon National Championship on Saturday, Nov. 16 in Tempe, Ariz. The race will be held at Tempe Town Lake North Park and Arizona State University will serve as the host institution. The Division III championship race is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. MST.