Courtesy: USAT

Enduring temperatures well over 100 degrees, America's two best intermediate-distance triathletes, Hunter Kemper and Barb Lindquist, blew away the competition at Sunday's Tempe International Triathlon in Arizona.

Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), ranked No. 1 in the world, joined a breakaway from the large lead bike pack and stayed ahead on the run to win the USA Triathlon Elite Cup race in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 4 seconds. U.S. elite triathlete Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) used a strong run off the bike to finish second in 1:51:32.

Australia's Matt Murphy was third in 1:52:21 after a sprint finish against U.S. elite Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.), who finished in fourth in 1:52:22.

Kemper was with the leaders coming out of the water and rode with a slow lead bike pack. On the last lap, he joined a break by Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Murphy that took him into the second transition in first place. He never relinquished the lead.

Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.), ranked No. 1 in the United States and fifth in the world, came out of the swim just behind U.S. under 23 elite Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla.). McLarty held her own with Lindquist on the bike and the two put themselves more than three minutes ahead of a disorganized chase group.

Lindquist stayed cool on the run and won the race in 2:03:52, almost five minutes faster than second-place Lauren Groves of Canada, who finished in 2:08:43. Carolyn Murray of Canada was third in 2:10:34.

McLarty fell back on the run, but held on for fifth place behind fellow U23 elite Jasmine Oeinck (Littleton, Colo.).

The victories will put both Lindquist and Hunter in first place in the 2005 USA Triathlon Elite Cup Series, dubbed The Haul to the Great Wall.

The elite men began their race about 9:30 a.m., with the women starting approximately 15 minutes later and temperatures in the high 80s. By the time the races were finishing, temperatures had soared to 107 degrees.

Jennifer Spieldenner (Findlay, Ohio) and Kyle Hughes (Lake Forest, Calif.) won the elite junior races for 16-19 year olds.

Full elite and age group results will be posted to http://www.tri-a-run.com.