A Montgomery County jury late Tuesday night awarded $350,000 to a woman involved in a crash that killed a bicyclist during a Blacksburg triathlon more than seven years ago.

Sharon Knight, a Blacksburg resident, had filed a civil lawsuit against the town and the director of the third annual Greater Blacksburg Triathlon, claiming they were negligent in failing to warn passing motorists of the race course.

Triathlon participant Gary Wayne Taylor, a 30-year-old sports promoter from Lynchburg, died midway through the June 18, 2000, competition after his bicycle crashed into Knight's car.

Knight was heading to church east on Southgate Drive toward Lane Stadium about 9 a.m. that morning when Taylor crashed into the side of her car at the intersection with Tech Center Drive.

Knight has said she saw Taylor run a stop sign at the base of Tech Center Drive and swerved but couldn't avoid a collision.

She had asked for $750,000 in damages for mental and emotional trauma and damages to her car.

After listening to two days of testimony in Montgomery County Circuit Court, the jury met for four hours and 15 minutes before returning after 9 p.m. Tuesday with a verdict against race director Beverly Biancur and the town.

Biancur is no longer a town employee.

The town, which sponsored the race, failed to provide personnel or markings to warn passing motorists that they were entering a race course.

Attorneys for the town have said competitors were instructed to follow all traffic signs and laws before the race started.

Knight's attorney, Thomas DeBusk, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Town officials referred calls to Susan Waddell, the attorney who represented the town. She was out of the office Wednesday afternoon.

In a 2002 trial, a jury found that Biancur and the town were negligent in organizing the race and awarded $500,000 in damages to Taylor's family.