USA’s Sarah Groff earned the women's victory, and Spain’s Mario Mola on the men's side at Saturday's Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup at Lake Louisa State Park.
Groff notched a time of 1 hour, 17 seconds on the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, 5-kilometer run course to earn her third career ITU Pan American Cup win. Olympian Helle Frederiksen of Denmark was second in 1:00:23, while Kaitlin Donner rounded out the women's podium in 1:00:31.
London Olympians Mario Mola of Spain and Richard Murray of South Africa went one-two on the men's side in 53:56 and 54:12, respectively. Shoemaker earned his third straight podium finish in his hometown race, taking third in 54:20.
Less than a week after finishing second at the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco, Groff again displayed strong early season form with her second podium finish in as many weeks. She was among a lead group of four, including American Sara McLarty, out of the water and rode with the leaders throughout the 20k bike. Groff posted the day's fastest 5k split (17:43) en route to a six-second victory over Frederiksen. Kaitlin Donner was third for her fourth career Pan American Cup finish.
In the subsequent men's race, Tommy Zaferes led the field out of the water by 17 seconds. At the midway point of the bike, a group of 11 - featuring Americans Shoemaker, Zaferes, Luke Farkas and Kyle Lee - formed the lead pack, and that group exited T2 within seven seconds of another.
On the run, Mola uncorked a 15:07 5k to post a 16-second win over Murray. Shoemaker's 15:27 run was good for third.
Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup
(750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run)
Women's Top 10
1. Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.), 1:00:17
2. Helle Frederiksen (DEN), 1:00:23
3. Kaitlin Donner (Gainesville, Fla.), 1:00:31
4. Alicia Kaye (Clermont, Fla.), 1:00:44
5. Paula Findlay (CAN), 1:00:51
Men's Top 10
1. Mario Mola (ESP), 53:56
2. Richard Murray (RSA), 54:12
3. Jarrod Shoemaker (Clermont, Fla.) 54:20
4. Joao Pereira (POR), 54:29
5. Kyle Jones (CAN), 54:33
