ORONO – Christi Holmes, a junior civil engineering major at the University of Maine, will compete in her first triathlon Sunday at the Black Bear Triathlon and is trying to raise money in the process to pay for a guide/service dog.

The dog is to be used by 10-year-old Nathan Robichaud of Alton, and Holmes is collecting pledges to raise the remaining $1,500 of the dog’s $6,000 cost. She will swim 600 yards, bicycle 12 1/2 miles, and run 3.1 miles in the event. To make a pledge or get more info, Holmes can be reached via e-mail at christiannah.holmes@umit.maine.edu.