When Andie Psilopoulos left the North American continent for the first time, she was a qualifier at The World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships in Hamburg, Germany.

She returned home as a champion.

Swimming the female swim portion, Psilopoulos, a rising senior at Wallkill High School, was part of the mixed 15-19 relay, which finished in 1:20.31 to win the gold medal on July 16.

“We were all waiting by the finish line,” Psilopoulos said. “We couldn’t be right by the finish line as they had corralled us out to the side, and we were standing on the gate, and screaming. We were happy.”

Psilopoulos took the second leg of the relay from Jake Adler, the Americans were in first position, just ahead of Mexico’s Jose Luis Zazueta Lizarraga. Not only did Psilopoulos hold the lead, but she expanded it against Mexico’s Leah Amezuca Herrera.

Psilopoulos outswam her by 24 seconds. Herrera gained a few seconds during the bike ride, but Psilopoulos was able to maintain the Americans’ lead finishing about a minute faster than Herrera.

“I had a really good day,” Psilopoulos said. “My race was really good. I was happy with it. It was more stressful, I think because I wanted to do well not for myself, but for the team, too. I think we were a minute ahead of them going into the third person.”

The third person was Isaac Lamprecht. He beat his counterpart by 20 seconds, putting Team USA in a strong position to win. It was his performance that convinced Psilopoulos that the team would win.

“At that point, we’re so far ahead, unless something went wrong, we were going to win,” Psilopoulos said.

After finishing her portion of the relay, she spent the rest of the time watching the remaining two competitors, which she described as another workout, but one that was worth it to win the championship.

“It was almost less stressful than a lot of the races in the U.S. because, besides a couple of other Americans who are on the team, I didn’t know who everyone else was,” Psilopoulos said. “There wasn’t the pressure of, ‘I normally beat this person, or this person only beats me.’ I went there not knowing anything.

The relay win was the crowning achievement, as two days earlier, Psilopoulos finished seventh in the 16-19 female sprint with a time of 1:11:26.

Maddie Hughes of Great Britain won the overall championship in 1:09.40.

Psilopoulos had the top swim time, finishing that in 10:11, four seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Amelie Crabb. She had a strong transition from swimming to biking, which is typically her weakest event.

She was 26th in the biking rankings with a time of 34:08, but still maintained her lead.

“I had a really good bike,” Psilopoulos said. “That’s normally what I struggle with. But I stayed with the leading pack the whole time and came out of T2 (transition to run) in first still.”

But she faltered in the running portion, taking 15th with a time of 21:35, which set her back to seventh place.

“I was a little disappointed with that,” Psilopoulos said. “I still finished seventh, so I can’t complain. I would have liked to have a better run, but overall, I was happy with the race.”

After returning from Germany, there wasn’t much time to rest, as this weekend she will head to Milwaukee for the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships, looking to qualify for next year’s World Championships.

“I’m hoping to qualify again for next year because it was just a fun experience,” Psilopoulos said. “I was trying to keep my training up so I’m not dead for nationals. Then after this, I’m kind of done. I’m looking forward to the season being over and getting a little bit of a break.”