YANKTON, SD.--  Freshman Jayme Sue Vermaas placed fourth among 18 competitors as the Drury triathlon team came in third place at the South Dakota Invitational on Sunday in Yankton, South Dakota.
 
Vermaas completed the event in 1 hour, six minutes, and 22 seconds. The freshman from South Africa was less than two minutes behind the individual winner, Ella Kubas from the University of South Dakota.
 
Drury's Nina Spitzhorn came in ninth with a time of 1:09:17.2 and Rebecca Rivers was 10th as she crossed the finish line in 1:12:08.3. Other Drury finishers included Olivia Hall (13th place, 1:16:39.0), and Melanie Abbott (15th place, 1:20:10.1).
 
South Dakota won the event finishing with eight points while Black Hills State was second with 17 points and the Panthers came in third with 23.
 
Drury competes again on Nov. 16 at the NCAA championship in Tempe, Arizona. The Panthers qualified for the national championship event in their first competition of the season at the Central Regional Qualifier in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
 
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