Courtesy: USAT

The United States put on one of its best ITU World Cup performances ever on Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, as Barb Lindquist, Sheila Taormina and Laura Reback swept the women's podium and Hunter Kemper finished second among the men.

Lindquist (Victor, Idaho), the International Triathlon Union's (ITU) No. 1 ranked female triathlete in the world, secured her standing by completing the 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 1 hour, 57 minutes and 30 seconds. Taormina (Livonia, Mich.), ranked fifth in the world, was second in 1:58:22 and Reback (North Palm Beach, Fla.), ranked second in the world, was third in 1:59:08.

The United States had two other women in the top 10 as Becky Gibbs Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) placed fifth and Joanna Zeiger (Baltimore, Md.) placed sixth. Susie Gallucci (Hudson, Ohio) also made the top 20, finishing 18th.

On the men's side, Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) led for most of the run before Canada's Simon Whitfield, the 2000 Olympic champion, passed him to win in 1:47:07. Kemper finished in 1:47:14 and Australia's Greg Bennett, ranked No. 1 in the world, was third in 1:47:30.

The U.S. men put six other athletes in the top 20: Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) placed ninth, Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.) finished 10th, Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) finished 13th, Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) was 14th, Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) finished 19th and Andy Kelsey (Cupertino, Calif.) placed 20th.

"It is difficult for me to express how exciting the Edmonton World Cup race was today. It was absolutely amazing," said U.S. coach Gale Bernhardt.

"It was a huge privilege for me to support such a class group of athletes. I cannot do justice to the excitement, even in the Canadian crowd, for the showing of the U.S. athletes."

The women's race began with Lindquist, Taormina and Reback coming out of the water to form the first pack of three on the bike. Lindquist and Taormina powered up the hill and Reback joined the second group of women, which also included Lavelle, Zeiger and Gallucci.

The second pack was not well organized, letting Lindquist and Taormina gain a lead of roughly 2:10.

In the men's race, Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.) tried an aggressive strategy on the swim and came out of the water in first. Six of the remaining U.S. men - Umphenour, Potts, Kemper, Kelsey, Fleischmann and Fretta - were close at his heels, all of them making the first group on the bike.

Plata was in the second cycling group. The first and second groups merged during the last two laps. As the run progressed, the lead pack became six, then four, then three.

Complete results are posted at www.triathlon.org.