Cedarville University's Grace Norman nominated for Team USA awar

Grace Norman, a sophomore runner at Cedarville University, is one of five Team USA members up for the Female Paralypmic Athlete of the Year award. Fans can vote online at Awards.TeamUSA.org.

Norman, a Xenia Christian graduate who competes with a prosthetic left leg due to a birth defect, won three paratriathlons this year. She beat Great Britain's Lauren Steadman by four seconds in the PT5 class competition in the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships.

"It was a lot harder than I was expecting, but it was good. I'm very glad I didn't give up," Norman told TeamUSA.org. "I normally catch Lauren easily on the first lap of the run, and it wasn't that easy this time, so I think I was just a little bit more tired than I expected. I had to mentally keep telling myself, 'Stay in it, stay in it.'"

Paralympic gold medalist & 2-time world champ Grace Norman is a nominee for Team USA Best of the Year honors! VOTE: https://t.co/Iew5IRifjQ pic.twitter.com/Rt75VItyno
— USA Triathlon (@usatriathlon) October 16, 2017