ROXBORO, N.C. – competing in its second and final meet of the 2021 season on Saturday morning at Person-Caswell Recreation Park, the Montana State University Billings women's triathlon team had a successful showing at the Hyco Lake Triathlon.
 
Madisan Chavez took 28th place and Journey Erickson was close behind in 30th among the field of 45 triathletes. "I was really pleased with how well both Madi and Journey competed," said MSUB head coach Kevin Bjerke. "They did a great job of working together in a small bike pack to keep an honest pace after coming out of the water pretty close together. Both swam well as Madi rebounded with a much better swim than in Florida last month. The run was tough with some pretty steep climbs that had to be repeated on the three-lap course, but running is their strong suit and they pushed through it quite well."
 
Chavez completed the course in a time of 1:14:43 to lead the way for the Yellowjacket tandem on Saturday. The sophomore posted a swim time of 13:30.9 minutes in the 750-meter swim, 39:30.2 minutes in the 20k bike ride, and 21:09.8 minutes in the three-lap, 5k run.
 
Competing in her second collegiate meet, Erickson posted a total time of 1:15:15 as she crossed the finish line just over 30 seconds behind Chavez. Erickson notched marks of 12:49.5 minutes in the swim, 40:14.1 minutes in the bike, and 21:25.4 minutes in the run.
 
Saturday's field of triathletes consisted of participants from all three NCAA levels, with MSUB's placings based on the combined field of NCAA Division I and Division II competitors. Sam McInnes of Queens University of Charlotte was the top finisher, completing the course in a time of 1:03:14 to hold off her second-place teammate Natalie Bash by nearly one full minute.
 
THE BUZZ: Chavez was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Day…Saturday marked MSUB's final event of the season, after competing at the Sarasota-Bradenton Triathlon I Florida on March 14.