Panthers finish 2nd among Division II teams at NCAA West Regional

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury triathlon team finished second among Division II teams and senior Zoe Van Dijk came in second individually at the D-II level at the NCAA West Regional hosted by the Panthers at Fellows Lake north of Springfield on Saturday.
 
Drury was second among four Division II programs, finishing with 336 points and came in behind regional winner Colorado Mesa’s total of 361. Black Hills State was third with 290 points and California Poly-Humboldt was fourth with 141.
 
Zoe Van Dijk, a senior from The Netherlands, was 25^th overall among 123 and the runner-up among 36 Division-II athletes as she finished with a time of 1:06:44. Shannon Feran from Colorado Mesa was the D-II regional champion as she crossed the finish line in 1:05:29.
 
“It was funny that we had a late swim start because nobody wanted to be on the line,” said Van Dijk as course officials removed all 80 athletes from the water in the heat as several competitors tried to start ahead of the starting line. “The swim is becoming more aggressive, but I thought every girl on our team dealt with that really well. The bike course changed, too, and it turned into a really fast course. But it was great to see so many familiar faces and all the people cheering us on. I’m really proud of my teammates, and I’m very grateful that regionals was a home race.”  
 
Drury’s Kristina Vestman was sixth in D-II and 38^th overall (1:08:32), and Olivia Hall, a senior from Springfield-Kickapoo, was ninth in her division and 45^th overall with a time of 1:09:51.
 
“We performed very well and exceeded our expectations,” said Drury head coach David Winton. “We dealt with a lot of changes in the last minute, and I was really pleased with how we overcame that adversity and I thought we had a great race.
 
“Part of this sport requires a lot of flexibility. In our weekly training, we’re always having to make changes and modifications, so a last-minute change was no big deal to these girls. We trained hard and they were ready to adapt.”
 
The Panthers will advance to the NCAA National Championship on Nov. 11 in Tempe, Arizona.
 
Results
 
 
#allweDUiswin