POLK CITY, Fla. — Led by the gold-medal winning performances of Cathy Williams of Orlando, Fla., and Christy Smith of North Little Rock, Ark., the U.S. Wakeboard Team claimed the silver medal November 4 at the 2001 IWSF Wakeboard World Championships in Sun City, South Africa. The U.S. Team improved upon its third-place finish at last year's world championships in La Grande Motte, France, by compiling 375 points to finish second, a mere 45 points behind gold-medal winning South Africa.

Members of the U.S. Wakeboard Team were: Jackie Denwalt of Elizabeth, Ark., Boys; David Briscoe of Winter Haven, Fla., Masters Men; Chris Laske of Brighton, Mich., Open Men; Loren Levine of Madison, Wis., Junior Men; Christy Smith of North Little Rock, Ark., Junior Women; Cobe Mikacich of Orlando, Fla., Open Men; and Cathy Williams of Orlando, Fla., Open Women.

Williams (56.78 points) and Smith (64.22 points) won gold medals in the Open Women and Junior Women events. Briscoe (51.33 points) also earned an individual medal, claiming the bronze medal in the Masters Men division. Other top U.S. Team finishers were Levine (52.89 points), who finished fifth in Junior Men and Mikacich (53.11 points), who finished seventh in Open Men.

The IWSF Wakeboard World Championships, which was held for the first time last year, featured athletes representing 17 countries competing for individual and team honors. The world championships was sanctioned by water skiing's international governing body, the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF), which is comprised of member organizations from more than 70 countries throughout the world.