St. Louis native Sarah Haskins tempered her disappointment and enthusiasm after finishing second in the Olympic Triathlon trials Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has one last chance to qualify, and the odds are in her favor.

She has done everything but qualify in two opportunities to make the team, finishing second in Beijing last year and again yesterday. The consistency, though, gives her the upper hand June 22 in Des Moines. USA Triathlon will pick its last man and woman based on the two best finishing positions in the three races, using points like a cross country race. Haskins has earned two seconds, so she has four points. Her nearest competitor is Sarah Groff, who finished third Saturday and fifth in the first qualifier in Beijing.  Groff’s only chance to take the spot is to win in Des Moines.  That would give her four points and the tiebreaker, with an overall victory.

The difference between Saturday’s race and the one in Des Moines is that the latter will contain the best in the world, as opposed to the top dozen in the United States.

Haskins will return to racing next weekend at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon and will do one other race before Des Moines, either the World Cup race in Madrid or the World Championships.

Another St. Louisan, Jillian Petersen, took first in the Mazatlan Pan American Cup on Saturday in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 36 seconds. Petersen moved to Colorado Springs earlier this year to train with Haskins and the nation’s best.  The Mazatlan race is on the continental level of competition, just below World Cup, but could give her enough points to compete on the World Cup Circuit, including the race in Des Moines.