1419

Athletes won respective titles at Pan American Olympic Festival

POLK CITY, Fla. – USA Water Ski has selected Andrew Adkison (Chipley, Fla.) and Erika Lang (Gilbert, Ariz.) as its Male Athlete of the Month and Female Athlete of the Month, respectively, for July. The U.S. Pan American Olympic Festival Water Ski Team was selected Team of the Month. Adkison, Lang and the U.S. Pan American Olympic Festival Team are now eligible for the United States Olympic Committee’s Athlete of the Month honors.

Adkison, almost 10 months to the day from under going reconstructive knee surgery, won themen’s wakeboarding title at the inaugural Pan American Olympic Festival, July 17-20, in Morelos, Mexico.It was his first major tournament since the surgery. Adkison, the No. 3 seed for the finals after placingthird in the qualifying round, won the gold medal with a tournament-high score of 84.67 points.

Lang won gold medals in women’s tricks and overall, and earned the silver medal in women’sslalom at the inaugural Pan American Olympic Festival, July 17-20, in Morelos, Mexico. Lang won thegold medal in women’s overall, tallying 2,445.94 points after scoring 3 buoys at 35 feet off in slalom,9,300 points in tricks, and 121 feet in jumping. She won the gold medal in women’s tricks, scoring 9,300points. She earned the silver medal in slalom with a score of 2 buoys at 38 feet off.

Five U.S. Team members combined to win a tournament-high nine medals in respective events atthe inaugural Pan American Olympic Festival, July 17-20, in Morelos, Mexico. The U.S. Team finishedwith five gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal during the four-day competition. ThePan American Olympic Festival was a first-year water ski and wakeboard event hosted by the PanAmerican Sports Organization (PASO). Events included men’s and women’s slalom, tricks, jumping andoverall, as well as men’s and women’s wakeboarding.

Members of the U.S. team were: Andrew Adkison (Chipley, Fla.), men’s wakeboarding; Makayla Haw (Rio Linda, Calif.), women’s slalom, tricks, jumping and overall; Erika Lang (Gilbert,Ariz.), women’s slalom, tricks, jumping and overall; Raimi Merritt (Orlando, Fla.), women’s wakeboarding; and Nate Smith (McCordsville, Ind.), men’s slalom. Lori Krueger (Martindale, Texas) served as the team leader.

Lang won gold medals in women’s tricks and overall, and earned the silver medal in women’sslalom; Haw won the gold medal in women’s slalom, and earned silver medals in women’s jumping and overall; Smith won the gold medal in men’s slalom; Adkison won the gold medal in men’s wakeboarding; and Merritt earned the bronze medal in women’s wakeboarding.USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States.

USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (worldgoverning body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing and wakeboarding in the United States.