Lukas Verzbicas Wins PATCO Pan American Junior Champs
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Verzbicas and Hunter Kemper lead Americans in PATCO Pan American Junior Champs and ITU World Cup respectively.
EDMONTON, Canada — Three-time Olympian and USA Triathlon National Team member Hunter Kemper earned bronze in the ITU World Cup event, and Lukas Verzbicas’ victory led a strong showing for the U.S. in the PATCO Pan American Junior Championships to highlight a full day of multisport action in Edmonton.
Kemper (Colorado Springs, Colo.) logged a time of 1 hour, 46 minutes, 54 seconds in the Olympic-distance event to finish just seven seconds off the pace of New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty, who took the win in 1:46:47. France’s Aurélien Lescure was second.
The day kicked off with many of the nation’s top juniors in action in the PATCO Pan American Championships. Verzbicas (Orland Hills, Ill.) was victorious in the sprint-distance event in 55:24, with fellow American Tony Smoragiewicz (Rapid City, S.D.) earning silver in 55:39. Ben Kanute (Geneva, Ill.) was fourth in 56:04 to finish just off the podium. The top three U.S. athletes were together for the first half of the run before Verzbicas pulled away over the final 2.5k to claim the victory.
Read more: USA Triathlon