Courtesy: USAT

U.S. elite triathlete Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) won the Punta del Este International Triathlon on Saturday in Uruguay. Plata's U.S. teammate, Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.), placed third.

On the women's side, Susan Williams (Denver, Colo.) placed fourth and 2000 Olympian Jennifer Gutierrez (Greenwood Village, Colo.) was fifth.

Plata completed the 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run in 1 hour, 54 minutes and 53 seconds. Juraci Moreira, Jr. of Brazil was second (1:55:05) and Friman finished in 1:55:08. The race was an International Triathlon Union international points race, meaning that top finishers earn points toward their ITU ranking.

Carol Montgomery of Canada won the women's race in 2:05:45. She was followed by Brazilian teammates Carla Moreno and Mariana Ohata, respectively. Williams finished fourth in 2:08:34. Monica Caplan of Boulder, Colo., was seventh among the women while Brendan Murphy of Littleton, Colo., was ninth among the men.

The next ITU points race will be the Canberra International Triathlon on Feb. 17 in Australia.

Punta del Este International Triathlon
Feb. 9, 2002; Uruguay
1.5K swim; 40K bike; 10K run

Men
1. Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) 1:54:53; 2. Juraci Moreira Jr. (Brazil) 1:55:05; 3. Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.) 1:55:08; 4. Daniel Fontana (Argentina) 1:55:11; 5. Leandro Macedo (Brazil) 1:57:06; 6. Arial Garrigo (Argentina) 1:57:57; 7. Paulo Miyashiro (Brazil) 1:58:11; 8. Ezequiel Morales (Argentina) 2:02:02; 9. Brendan Murphy (Littleton, Colo.) 2:04:57; 10. Jose Emmanuel Lemma (Argentina) 2:07:19

Women
1. Carol Montgomery (Canada); 2. Carla Moreno (Brazil); 3. Mariana Ohata (Brazil); 4. Susan Williams (Denver, Colo.) 2:08:34; 5. Sharon Donnelly (Canada) 2:10:19; 6. Jennifer Gutierrez (Greenwood Village, Colo.) 2:13:40; 7. Monica Caplan (Boulder, Colo.) 2:14:36; 8. Maria Soledad Omar (Argentina) 2:16:48; 9. Pamela Geijo (Argentina) 2:19:16.