By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications, (503) 370-6110

ST. GEORGE, Utah -- Willamette University triathletes Ella Isaacson (Fy., Saint Paul, MN/Central HS) and Veronica Castille (Fy., Round Rock, TX/Cedar Ridge HS) participated in the women's collegiate event during the Super Sprint Weekend held at Quail Creek State Park on Saturday, Oct. 30. The women's Super Sprint included athletes from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III. Isaacson and Castille were two of six Division III athletes who competed in the triathlon.

The Super Sprint event was a national qualifier for USA Triathlon. The triathlon included a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer cycle, and a 5-kilometer run.

Isaacson placed fourth among the NCAA Division III athletes by finishing with an overall time of 1:25:10. She completed the swim in 13:17, earned a time of 42:42 in the cycle, and registered a time of 27:47 in the run.

Castille was timed at 1:28:10 overall. She posted a time of 11:33 in the swim phase, then achieved a time of 45:51 in the cycle. Her time for the run was 29:13.

The overall champion was Kira Gupta-Baltazar from the University of San Francisco with a combined time of 1:04:31. Second place went to Gillian Cridge, also from USF, as she crossed the finish line 21 seconds later at 1:04.52. Fr4ya McKinley from the University of Denver was third in 1:05:13.

Hailey Poe from North Central College (Illinois) was the top NCAA Division III finisher in 1:10:56. She took 20th place in the overall standings. Poe edged out NCC teammate Annika Cotner, who was the second DIII athlete to complete the course. Cotner's time of 1:11:37 placed her 24th overall.

Willamette will compete at the Collegiate Triathlon Championships on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Tempe, Arizona.