From left to right: Tony Smoragiewicz, Brian Gorman, Tamara Gorman hold up the championship banner after winning the "Youth Elite Triathlon Relay" in California Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Julie Smoragiewicz)

Rapid City triathletes Tamara Gorman, Brian Gorman and Tony Smoragiewicz have been close friends and training partners for years. The family vibe paid off on Sunday when the trio, racing together for the Z3 Junior Elite Team out of Iowa, seized the Gold medal in the “Youth Mixed Relay” at the National Triathlon Championships in San Diego.

Tamara Gorman, the reigning South Dakota high school cross country and 3,200 meter track champion, repeated as the woman’s “Youth” (13-15) national champion on Saturday, with a time of 31:49, then turned around on Sunday and handled the first leg of the triathlon relay race with a 300 meter swim, a 5k bicycle ride, and a 1.2k run.

Tamara handed the baton to Tony Smoragiewicz, who qualified for the world junior championships in Beijing last month with his second place finish in the Pan Am Triathlon in Edmonton.

Smoragiewicz repeated the three-stage race course. Solid in the swim and bicycle stages, Tony turned in a blistering 3:35 for the 1.2k running course, before handing the baton to Brian Gorman.

Brian Gorman, who will swim long distance for the University of Minnesota next month, anchored the team.

The combined team time of 49:49 was 11 seconds ahead of the second place finish from the Southeast Junior Team.