CALI, Colombia—Maddie Lavin placed fifth in the individual women's race and earned bronze with her Team USA teammates in the mixed relay race at the inaugural 2021 Junior Pan American Games this past weekend.
 
Lavin completed the individual race with an overall time of 1:06:52 for Team USA. She was the first American across the finish line and finished fifth behind athletes from Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil. Lavin was the second athlete out of the water, completing the 750-meter swim in 9:55. The sprint triathlon race included a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer draft-legal bike and 5,000-meter run.
 
In the team mixed relay race, Lavin joined Liberty Ricca (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Drew Shellenberger (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Nicholas Holmes (Glendale, Wis.) for third place and the bronze medal. The quartet finished with a time of 1:24:18, just 30 seconds behind the winning Ecuador team. Eight countries competed, with each fielding a team of two men and two women. The athletes each completed a super-sprint triathlon with a 300-meter swim, a draft-legal 6.2-kilometer bike and a 1.5-kilometer run before tagging off to the next teammate.
 
A native of Vermillion, South Dakota, Lavin has competed for the Coyote track and field, swimming and diving, cross country and triathlon teams during her career at the University of South Dakota. Lavin was USD's top finisher at the 2021 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships, placing fifth in the collegiate race.
 
This marked the first year of the Pan American Games hosting international competition at the junior level – athletes aged 17 to 22 – from the countries of North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.