SPRINGFIELD, Mo.–  Drury won their first NCAA-II regional triathlon championship in program history as the Panthers were the top finisher among Division II programs at the NCAA West Regional at Fellows Lake in Springfield on Saturday.
 
Drury was fifth overall out of 16 teams and first among NCAA-II teams with 478 points. Arizona State was first overall, winning a tie-breaker with Arizona as both teams had 614 points in the event. The Panthers finished 28 points better than defending regional champion Colorado Mesa among D-II squads.
 
Drury sophomore Kristina Vestman was 25^th overall in the field of 128 triathletes and was third among Division II competitors with a time of 1:09.47. The native of Sweden completed her swim in 11:05, her 20-kilometer bicycle race in 34:32, and she completed her five-kilometer run in 22:16.
 
Katie Quade, a senior from Chesterfield, Missouri, was 36^th overall with a time of 1:10.13, and Alexis Workman, a senior from Springfield, was 38^th overall, finishing in 1:10.38. Vestman, Quade and Workman were all named to the NCAA-II All-West Region team.
 
Mayumi Shinozuka was 44^th (1:11.28), Isabella Buenting finished 50^th (1:13.18), and Tarryn Brumley came in 55^th (1:14.35). The Panthers also had Mia Harris finishing 57^th (1:14.51), Taylor Brino-Dean was 63^rd (1:16.12), and Abigail Robinson came in 65^th (1:17.01).
 
Naomi Ruff from Arizona State was the overall winner with a time of 1:02.25 as she finished 12 seconds ahead of Kelly Wetteland from Arizona, who was second. Natalie Mitchell from California State Humboldt won the Division II individual title with a time of 1:07.31.
 
With the regional championship, the Panthers earn an automatic berth to the NCAA National Championship competition on Nov. 9 in Clermont, Florida.
 
Drury's regional championship is the program's first in the current NCAA format which has been in place in the last four seasons. The Panthers finished in second place in each of the last two seasons.
 
NCAA West Regional final point totals

1. Arizona State-614* - Won 6^th finisher tiebreaker
2. Arizona- 614
3. Denver-595
4. South Dakota-529
5. Drury- 478
6. Colorado Mesa- 450
7. Black Hills State-441
8. North Central-433
9. Cal Poly Humboldt- 418
10. Indianapolis- 315
11. Central College-314
12. Calvin-304
13. Willamette – 292
14. Millikin- 241
15. Northern Kentucky- 113
16. Concordia-46

 
Complete Individual Results
 

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