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 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 with a 1:03:00 time, which was the fourth fastest of 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 fast. 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 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:
1: TCU, 298
2. Arizona, 285
3. San Francisco, 221
4. Denver, 218
5. Arizona State, 206
6. CMU, 205
7. USD, 165
8. Cal Poly, 163
9. BHSU, 100
10. 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 participate at the University of Arizona Super Sprint Heats, an event ASU finished second in last season.
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