Courtesy: USAT

U.S. elite triathletes Sheila Taormina and Marcel Vifian picked up valuable International Triathlon Union ranking points with victories in Puerto Rico, while U.S. elite Barb Lindquist picked up her third win in a row at the Mrs. T's Triathlon in Chicago.

Taormina (Livonia, Mich.) and Vifian (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the women and men's titles respectively at the Puerto Rico ITU International Triathlon. Taormina, ranked eighth in the world and fourth in the United States heading into the race, took a big lead in the swim and never looked back, finishing the Olympic distance, draft-legal race in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 27 seconds. U.S. elite Patrice Carroll (Knoxville, Tenn.) was second (2:05:20) and Gillian Moody of Canada was third (2:06:09).

Vifian took the men's race in 1:54:06, putting in the fastest run time of the day at 33:17. Eligio Cervantes of Mexico was second in 1:54:27 and U.S. elite Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) finished third in 1:54:38.

Complete results will be available at www.triathlon.org.

In Chicago, Mrs. T's Triathlon is Olympic distance and draft- illegal. Lindquist took her lead in the swim, ahead of top U.S. swimmers Becky Gibbs (San Jose, Calif.) and Joanna Zeiger (Baltimore, Md.). Gibbs worked hard to try to catch Lindquist on the bike, burning too much energy to catch her on the run. Lindquist finished in 1:58:40. Zeiger, who won Mrs. T's in 2001, finished second (1:59:25) and New Zealand's Evelyn Williamson was third (2:01:06). Crowd favorite Karen Smyers (Lincoln, Mass.) used a strong run to move up into fourth (2:01:26).

Australia's Craig Walton won the men's race in 1:47:21. Defending champion Conrad Stoltz of South Africa was second (1:48:29) and Australian Craig Alexander was third (1:48:50). Michael Smedley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was the top U.S. finisher in seventh (1:54:02).

Complete results are available at will be posted at www.caprievents.com.

Canadian pros Lori Bowden and Garrett MacFadyen won the Canada Ironman on Sunday in Penticton, B.C. Mary Uhl (Santa Fe, N.M.) was the top U.S. finisher in third in the women's race and Donna Kay-Ness (Enfield, Conn.) was fifth among the women.

Michael McCormack (Mill Valley, Calif.) was the top U.S. men's finisher in 12th.

Complete results are posted at www.Ironman.ca.