In its first competition of the spring, the Central College triathlon team had a stellar outing on its home course with a clean sweep of the top four individual finishes against Coe College.

The two programs competed in a shortened triathlon and in a time trial format for part of the meet to get a first competition under their belts. The seven athletes swam together for 600 meters in Roberts Creek near Lake Red Rock. Then they had a rolling start for a 15-kilometer bike and 3.5-kilometer run. No team scores were kept.

Freshman Addie Smith was the top finisher in 58 minutes and 20 seconds after winning the swim (11:15) and bike (29:07) portions of the day. Sophomores Grace Benson and Luci Laidlaw were second and third in 59:26 and 59:42, respectively. Laidlaw had the fastest run of any competitor (16:50). Balancing her triathlon training with practice for the Dutch women’s soccer team, Taylor Jones was fourth in 1:01.10.

Central will go to a triathlon with full transitions next Saturday in East Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Rhoades McKee Reeds Lake Triathlon hosted by Calvin University (Mich.).