TEMPE – The Sun Devil Triathlon program was represented in two different events on Sunday morning: the 2026 World Triathlon Mixed Relays Championship in Pontevedra, Spain and the Desert’s Edge Collegiate Cup in Loma, Colorado.
As a majority of its 13-member roster spent the week in Spain and at the World Triathlon Championships, a sextet of Sun Devils, which entered the event as the No. 1-ranked team in the latest CTCA rankings, traveled to Colorado to take part in the 10-team Desert’s Edge Collegiate Cup hosted by Colorado Mesa.
Cara Macdonald paced the team at 1:03:00, the fourth-fastest time among the 69 participants. She started with a 10:35 750m swim – tied for the third-fastest swimming time – before a 46-second transition led to a 31:29 20km bike ride, which was tied for the fourth-fastest. After a 41-second transition, Macdonald capped her race with a 19:32 5km run.
Macdonald’s fourth-place finish on Sunday marked the first top-five finish for the first-year Sun Devil after transferring from Queens (N.C.).
Sonja De Koning (10:42) and Emma Rysavkova (10:43) both posted top-10 swim times. Rysavkova’s 20:09 5km time was the 13th fastest.
Across the Atlanta Ocean, Naomi Ruff, Alex Campbell and Kathrin Ritter all participated in a mixed relay race for their respective countries.
Ruff, wearing No. 1 for the USA, posted 3:15/8:31/4:47 swim-bike-run splits en route to a 17:45 time as the United States finished seventh with a collective 1:08:48, just 1:03 behind France for the top spot on the podium.
Ritter, who raced out of the third spot for Austria, had a 3:34/9:01/5:38 swim-bike-run split for a 19:32 as Austria finished 17th with a 1:11:02, 30 seconds ahead of Campbell (3:21/8:27/5:11 = 18:09) and Canada.
2026 World Triathlon Mixed Relays Championship results
- Naomi Ruff (USA), 17:45
- Alex Campbell (Canada), 18:09
- Kathrin Ritter (Austria), 19:32
Desert’s Edge Collegiate Cup, Individual
- 4th: Cara Macdonald, 1:03:00
- 14th: Luna Sraka, 1:05:37
- 21st: Emma Rysavkova, 1:06:56
- 27th: Tyler Kovak, 1:07:54
- DNF: Alice Alessandri
- DNF: Sonja De Koning
Desert’s Edge Collegiate Cup, Team:
- TCU, 298
- Arizona, 285
- San Francisco, 221
- Denver, 218
- Arizona State, 206
- CMU, 205
- USD, 165
- Cal Poly, 163
- BHSU, 100
- Gallaudet, 66
Up next
The Sun Devils will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 10, when Arizona State travels down I-10 to Tucson to compete at the University of Arizona Super Sprint Heats, an event in which ASU finished second last season.
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