Erica Hawley finished an impressive seventh at the Americas Triathlon Cup Miami on Friday.

In a race won by American Gwen Jorgensen in 55min 41sec, the Bermudian, who went into the race at the Homestead Miami Speedway. as the fourth highest-ranked, clocked 56:05.

Competing for the second time this year after starting off the season with a ninth-place finish at the World Triathlon Cup Napier on February 23, Hawley came out of the water in the 750-metre swim in ten minutes. She completed the 20km bike ride in 27:38, before taking 17:24 to execute the 5km run.

The Olympian, who had her mother Julia and Steven Petty, the Bermuda Triathlon Association president, as part of her supporting team, was pleased with the race outcome.

“I feel like seventh is a pretty good result considering the field,” the 26-year-old told The Royal Gazette.

“Overall, I was happy with that and I feel like I achieved what I wanted to accomplish out of the race. It was a training race, my coach and I were using it as an opportunity to work on a few things.

“It was another chance to race as I hope to compete in Yokohama in May. That’s three months apart from when I raced in Napier, so I think a lot of us were using this race to gain momentum.

“Even if it’s a continental cup, you can’t really discount any of the competition. We had Gwen, an Olympic gold medal-winner and a bunch of other really accomplished women on the start list.

“I didn't have the best swim, I came out of the water in 26th position. It was pretty choppy and kind of a bottleneck swim.

“But I managed to get on the bike pack and caught up with the lead group after about a lap, so I feel like there wasn't too much damage done.

“The beauty about a continental cup is that I feel the pressure is completely under the bike pack. I was happy with my run, I feel like I had a good run for three of the five kilometres.

“Unfortunately, two people passed me in the last 400 metres, but overall, I feel like I put myself in the mix. When there is a group of 40 coming off the bike together, to finish seventh feels like good progress for me.”