DENVER – Sophomores Freya McKinley and Clara Normand of the University of Denver triathlon team earned top-10 finishes on Saturday morning at the Pan American Junior Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay.
 
Representing the United States, McKinley (The Woodlands, Texas) finished fifth in the race with a total time of 1:07:24 while Normand (Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec) came in eighth for Canada after clocking in at 1:08:40.
 
Both Normand (16:17) and McKinley (16:20) were about 90 seconds behind the leaders out of the water, but the two Pioneers made up time in the last two legs to climb up the field.
 
McKinley had the second-fastest 20-kilometer bike time at 31:50 while Normand was third fastest at 31:59. In the 5K run, McKinley led all Americans and had the fourth-fastest overall split at 18:44 and Normand finised 12th-fastest by completing the course in 19:31.
 
The swim portion off Ramirez Beach was double the length of what DU usually competes at on the NCAA circuit, with the competitors doing two laps of 750 meters to total 1.5K. There was also a long run through shallow water before the athletes could get deep enough to start strokes.
 
Noemie Beaulieu of Canada won the junior championship in 1:06:31, while USA's Faith Dasso (1:06:56) and Mexico's Maria Lopez Faraudo (1:07:07) rounded out the podium.
 
Normand had competed in nine previous international events before this weekend, including placing sixth at last year's Pan Americna Junior Championship in St. George, Utah. Normand came in 24th in June at the World Triathlon Junior Championship in her hometown of Montreal, while McKinley finished 28th in the same race—her international debut.
 
McKinley will have a second day or racing on Sunday as she will be on the United States squad for the mixed relays to wrap up the weekend of competition in Uruguay.
                                               
The rest of the Denver triathlon squad will be competing in Berkeley, California, at the Bearathlon on Sunday in its final regular-season meet of the year. The Pioneers wrap up the 2022 campaign on Nov. 12 at the Collegiate National Championships in Tempe, Arizona.

 
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Triathlon on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @denverwomenstri on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @denverwomenstri on Instagram