Canada's Kira Gupta-Baltazar prevails in NCAA women's triathlon championships debut
Runner-up Hannah Henry, fellow Canadians lead Arizona State to team title
of Kleinburg, Ont., made it four consecutive years a Canadian woman has stood atop the medal podium at the NCAA National Triathlon Championships.
"Kira has done the work for the last four years to go from total novice on a bike and a recreational runner to a world class collegiate triathlete with great Olympic aspirations," Barrie Shepley, her coach at C3 club in Caledon, Ont., said in a news release.
On Sunday, the 19-year-old Gupta-Baltazar, who competes for San Francisco University, was first out of the 750-metre swim in Tempe, Ariz., and e in her NCAA Championships debut.
What a fairy book story. A dozen years ago doing C3 & <a href="https://twitter.com/TriathlonCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TriathlonCanada</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/TriOntario?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TriOntario</a> Kids of Steel Racing (#257). In the last week Kira Gupta Baltazar won St George NCAA, was top Canadian/American in Portugal World Juniors and today won NCAA Women's Tri Champs for San Fran. <a href="https://t.co/KBCLJfl22o">pic.twitter.com/KBCLJfl22o</a>
—@Barrieshepley"The NCAA has near 40 scholarship schools with women's triathlon programs and more and more Canadians are getting a great education and world-class coaching" said Shepley, a triathlon analyst for CBC Sports the past four Summer Olympics.
