Silver for Alex Lauretano at US Open in Professional Water Ski Debut

Press Release - Terryville Connecticut, September 21, 2007

The 20th Annual U.S. Open of Water Skiing concluded recently on Village Lake at Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Competing against many of the best water skiers in the world and skiing in her first professional event, Alex Lauretano finished in Second Place in the Overall competition, a cumulative compilation of the scoring results in the Slalom, Tricks, and Jump events. Clementine Lucine of France finished first with 2,985 points. Alex finished second with 2,739.9 points and fellow U.S. competitor Danyelle Bennett finished third with 2,656.6 points. In the individual events, Alex finished third in the Trick Skiing competition. Alex became one of the youngest medalists in U.S. Open history and earned a share of the $100,000 cash purse.

The event was sponsored by MasterCraft, the world’s leading builder of water ski, wakeboard, and luxury performance towboats. It was sanctioned by USA Water Ski and hosted by Disney World Sports. The U.S. Open of Water Skiing is the most prestigious tournament in the world and attracts the best Slalom, Trick, and Jump Skiers in the world. During the three-day event, the qualifying rounds were held on Thursday, September 13th and Friday, September 14th at the Swiss Ski School in Clermont, Florida. The finals were held on Saturday night, September 15th under the lights at Disney Downtown in Lake Buena Vista.

On Saturday night, thousands of spectators lined the banks of Village Lake to watch the top four skiers in each event who had advanced to the finals. Alex Lauretano, coming off a clean sweep with first place finishes in Slalom, Tricks, Jump, and Overall at the U.S. National Championship Tournament in Bakersfield, California during August, became the top female U.S. money winner at the U.S. Open of Water Skiing Championship Tournament by virtue of her third place finish in Tricks and second place finish in the Overall scoring.

From her tournament winnings, Alex is making a significant donation to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA is an organization that Alex supports financially and a cause that she promotes in her position as an elite international athlete. She is a strong advocate of the work that PETA does.

Alex will now focus on competition in the collegiate ranks with her team at Florida Southern College during the Fall season. She will finish the year with a trip to Santiago, Chile for the World Championships at the end of December and early in January.

Attached is a photo of Alex and Clementine Lucine on the podium at the U.S. Open of Water Skiing Championship Tournament celebrating their first and second place finishes in the Overall competition.

Alex is sponsored by MasterCraft Boats, D3 Skis, and Girls4Sport Activewear. She is formerly from Morris, Connecticut and currently lives in Winter Garden, Florida.

Please contact Pat Byrne (860-582-0233 x 160) for additional information or for contact information for Alex.