"Miami was the place to be this weekend to see wakeboarding's top professional and amateur riders compete for titles at the IWSF Pan Am Region Wakeboard Championships and BoardUp™ Miami," said Andy Jugan, executive director of USA Water Ski. "Congratulations to all the U.S. athletes who won titles at the events."

U.S. athlete Emily Copeland-Durham (Denver, Colo.) won the Pro Women title at Board Up™, scoring 92.20 points. Canada's Sunni Anne Ball finished runner-up, tallying 80.00 points. Canada's Rusty Malinoski won the Pro Men title, tallying 90.00 points. U.S. athlete Phillip Soven (Longwood, Fla.) finished runner-up with 81.17 points. More than $17,000 in cash prizes was up for grabs at the event.

U.S. riders who earned IWSF Pan Am Region titles in respective divisions were: Soven, Pro Men, 97.77 points; Copeland-Durham, Pro Women, 92.20 points; Austin Hair (Tega Cay, S.C.), Men Wakeskate, 90.00 points; Jimmy LaRiche (Boca Raton, Fla.), Junior Men, 86.67 points; John Rodriguez (Odessa, Fla.), Men 1, 90.00 points; Lance Whitt (Moneta, Va.), Open Men, 85.55 points; Daniel Powers (Orlando, Fla.), Boys, 90.00 points; Raimi Merritt (Lake Worth, Fla.), Girls, 94.43 points; Taylor McCullough (Centralia, Ill.), Junior Girls, 72.23 points; Corrie Dyer (Crossville, Tenn.), Junior Women, 73.33 points; and Briana Chmel (Winter Park, Fla.), Women Wakeskate, 70.57 points. Other riders earning titles were Ecuador's Maria Amador (Amateur Women, 67.77 points); Colombia's Camilo Gutierrez (Veteran Men, 75.57 points); and Mexico's Rodrigo Medrano (Men 2, 30.00 points).

For complete results from Board Up™ and the IWSF Pan Am Region Wakeboard Championships, visit www.USAWATERSKI.org.

In addition, several riders competing in the IWSF Pan Am Region Wakeboard Championships were vying for a chance to compete in the 2007 Pan American Games, July 21-24, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Men's wakeboarding has been added to the Pan American Games program for the first time, joining Men's and Women's water skiing (slalom, tricks and jumping). USA Water Ski's International Activities Committee will formally nominate one rider to the United States Olympic Committee to be the U.S. Men's wakeboard athlete at the Pan American Games.

USA Wakeboard is one of nine sport disciplines of USA Water Ski. 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 Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. With more than 30,000 members, USA Water Ski is the largest water ski federation in the world.