HUDDLESTON, Va. - The Duquesne University triathlon team continued its first-ever season on Saturday with a trip to the Women's Collegiate Triathlon East National Qualifier on Saturday at Smith Mountain Lake State Park.

"I'm very proud of our young team and their hard work,' said Head Coach Joella Baker. "They were very nervous but overall they had a lot of fun and enjoyed their first Regional Championship."

Robyn Hunt led the team with a 34th place finish out of 117 athletes. Hunt turned in a 1:02:02.8 and was top-40 in all three portions of the race with a high of 34th in the run charting a 19:48.2.

Five Dukes finished consecutively from 51st through 55th. Ainsleigh Cardone crossed the line in 1:04:21.3 to lead the quintet. Jet Francis (1:04:38.7) and Kate Potashnik (1:04:47.9) followed, then Abby Kreber (1:05:07.9) and Paige Black (1:05:19.3) rounded out the pack of Dukes.

Bella Schaller completed the race in 1:07:14.2, Lia Bartholomew had a 1:09:19.4, then Alexandria Meyers rounded out the DU finishers with a 1:10:26.7.

Kreber had the fastest swim of the day for DU ranking 24th in the race with a 10:30, Potashnik had the fastest run split of the day with a 19:28, and Alaina Hicks paced the Dukes in the bike portion with a 29:39 before suffering an injury.

All nine Duquesne racers finished in the top-66 each of the top six were in the top half of the race. The Dukes came in seventh place as a team in the regional.

UP NEXT
Duquesne will compete in the Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships in Tempe, Arizona on November 11.

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