SAN DIEGO -- Peter Clode made a first-time visit Sunday to a place that is very familiar to Michellie Jones: the winners' podium for the San Diego International Triathlon.

Clode, a native New Zealander now living in La Jolla, earned the pro men's victory on a morning when Jones resumed her dominance of the women's field after sitting out the race because of injuries last year.

"This was my first good race of the season," said Clode, who had a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 54 seconds for the international-distance course that included a 1,000-meter swim, 30-kilometer bike and 10K run.

Jones, a native Australian and a longtime Carlsbad resident, would need to take off her shoes if the race champions received rings. In 13 appearances in the San Diego International Triathlon, Jones has 11 victories. Her other two attempts resulted in a runner-up finish and a DNF because of a flat tire during the bike.

Her winning time Sunday was 1:41:14.

"It seems as if it's always a shock to race these shorter races," said Jones, coming off a victories at the Lake Macatawa Triathlon in Michigan two weeks ago and the Ford Ironman 70.3 Honu event June 3 in Hawaii. "It's like reaching down for that next little pain threshold."

Clode, who just turned 35, hails from Auckland, and he knows all about pain threshold. He was the 1998 New Zealand National Olympic Distance Champion, and he had a ninth-place finish at Ironman New Zealand in 1999. He also won the St. Kitts International Triathlon in 2000, but a nagging foot injury has taken its toll since.

"My last good year was 2001, but I've since had a chronic problem with my Achilles tendon," said Clode, who races for the National Triathlon Training Camp team. "I've been struggling just to get some top-10 finishes.

"But my wife, Neily Mathias, has been a big support for me, and I just decided (Saturday) to enter this race. I'm glad I did, because this is a good win for me."

Clode was the first swimmer out of the glassy San Diego Bay at Spanish Landing, and he built his lead to 50 seconds by the bicycle turnaround point at Fort Rosecrans. Lewis Elliot of Scottsdale, Ariz., was not among the pack of three pros trailing Clode on the bike, but Elliot made a strong charge on the run to finish as the male runner-up in 1:33:31.

"I lost my goggles on the swim, so I was way behind out of the water," said Elliot, 26. "I was playing catch-up all day. If I can continue to have good runs like that, shoot, who knows what I could do."

Elliot, who competes for the Wellements nutrition team, placed third here in 2004. He and Clode both plan to race in the upcoming Carlsbad Triathlon, where Clode had a third-place finish last year.

Third place was a tight battle, with the decision going to Ian Pyott of Irvine, whose time of 1:35:19 was the same as Jim Vance of San Diego. Patrick Baldwin of Del Mar was fifth in 1:37:18.

Jones, 36, led the women's field from start to finish and won by 4 1/2 minutes.

"I had a good bike, but I did have a little asthma on the run," she said. "Some days my asthma is not an issue, but on other days, whew."

Second place among the female pros went to Katie Donovan of Simi Valley in 1:45:43. Nicole Newton of San Diego was third in 1:50:51, and Misako Win of Carlsbad took fourth in 1:55:51.

Clode and Jones each won $1,500 for their winning efforts.

North County athletes took top honors among the amateur age-group racers. Hector Gutierrez, 37, of Carlsbad won his age group with the best amateur time of the day by more than four minutes, a mark of 1:35:26 that would have placed him fifth among the pros.

"I do this course a lot, so from the repetition I recognize a lot of the corners," Gutierrez said.

Susanne Davis, 34, also of Carlsbad, won this race as a pro in 1997, and she collected her second amateur win on Sunday with a time of 1:49:59.

"I love this course, and it was pretty perfect conditions," she said, "flat water and hardly any wind on the bike and run."

The sprint-course champions were also North County residents by the slimmest of margins. Michael Rudzinski, 32, of Carlsbad edged Xavier DeAnda, 32, of San Diego by 0.4 seconds with a winning time of 1:11:01.2 for the men's sprint title. Tara Kulikov, 28, of Cardiff won the women's crown in 1:17:36, one second ahead of Allison Sherwood, 48, of San Diego.

Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON

1K swim, 30K bike, 10K run

Overall Pro Finishers

Male

1. Peter Clode (La Jolla) 1:32:54, 2. Lewis Elliot (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 1:33:31, 3. Ian Pyott (Irvine) 1:35:19, 4. Jim Vance (San Diego) 1:35:19, 5. Patrick Baldwin (Del Mar) 1:37:18, 6. Emilio DeSoto (La Jolla) 1:38:22, 7. Thomas Taylor (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1:38:49, 8. Caue Suplicy (San Diego) 1:40:16, 9. Sebastian Linke (Carlsbad) 1:40:51.

Female

1. Michellie Jones (Carlsbad) 1:41:14, 2. Kathryn Donovan (Simi Valley) 1:45:43, 3. Nicole Newton (San Diego) 1:50:51, 4. Misako Win (Carlsbad) 1:55:51.