Courtesy: USAT

U.S. elite triathlete Hunter Kemper placed fifth and teammate Joe Umphenour placed ninth Sunday at the International Triathlon Union World Cup race in Makuhari, Japan.

Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), a member of the 2000 Olympic triathlon team and the top-ranked man in the United States, completed the 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 1 hour, 48 minutes, 50 seconds. Miles Stewart of Australia won the men's race in 1:48:23. New Zealand's Hamish Carter was second (1:48:27) and Brazil's Juraci Moreira was third (1:48:29).

Kemper, who trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., was with the leaders on the first three laps of the run, before the top three men pulled away. Umphenour (Belleview, Wash.), a resident athlete at the OTC and the second- ranked U.S. man, was with the lead pack on the bike and finished the race in 1:49:59.

Among the other U.S. men competing in Japan, Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) placed 23rd, Andy Kelsey (Cupertino, Calif.) was 24th and Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.) finished 27th.

All five men will be on the U.S. team that competes at the triathlon world championships on Nov. 9-10 in Cancun, Mexico.

Patrice Carroll (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the top U.S. women's finisher in 16th (2:08:29). Canada's Jill Savege won the women's race in 2:01:32. Nicole Hackett of Australia was second (2:01:52) and Liz Blatchford (Australia) was third (2:02:20).

Complete results are available at www.triathlon.org

The 2002 ITU World Cup Series moves on to Funchal, Madeira, Portugal on Oct. 13 for the last World Cup event of the season.