COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) today named women's wrestler Kristie Marano and water skiing sensation Jimmy Siemers as the September Athletes of the Month. Marano (Albany, N.Y) won her second World title at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. on Sept. 14. The win extended her U.S. record for most women's World medals to seven. Her past honors include being named as USA Wrestling's Women's Wrestler of the Year for 2002. Over the three-day tournament, Marano recorded three pins over Marie MacGregor of New Zealand in 2:18, Nori Saito of Japan in 2:13 and Shannon Samler of Canada in 2:15 in addition to outscoring her other two mat opponents, 17-1 at 67kg/147.7lbs. In the finals, she defeated Ewelina Pruszko of Poland, 7-1, helping the U.S. squad tie for first place with Japan for the team title. Marano was one of seven U.S. women to win World medals, a record performance for the USA. Nineteen-year-old Regina Jaquess (Suwanee, Ga.) of USA Water Skiing was the runner-up among the female candidates for the month. Jaquess won her first World title and set a World Championships overall record on Sept. 21 at the 2003 Water Ski World Championships, tallying 2,909.38 points after recording top scores in slalom (5 at 38) and tricks (7,520 points). She also earned a bronze medal in women's jumping, leaping 158 feet. Third in the voting among the women was USA equestrienne Lynn Seidemann (Coppell, Texas). Seidemann won individual gold and silver medals at the 2003 International Paralympic Equestrian Committee Dressage World Championships in Moorsele, Belgium, Sept. 5-7. Competing in the Grade I-B division, Seidemann received a score of 73.89% in the individual final and added a second medal when she won the individual silver in the freestyle, for which she received a score of 73.19% to trail only the 77.75% turned in by 2000 Sydney Paralympic gold medalist Lee Pearson of Great Britain. Seidemann was part of the U.S. team that finished sixth in the 22-team competition and earned the USA a place at next year's Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. Among the men, Siemers (Marshalltown, Iowa/Round Rock, Texas), competing in his first World Championships, won World titles in tricks and overall, as well as a silver medal in jumping, at the 2003 Water Ski World Championships, Sept. 15-21 in Clermont, Fla. In addition to contributing 1,988.45 points to the U.S. Elite Water Ski Team's total and helping the squad to its second consecutive World team gold medal, Siemers set four WC records in tricks, jumping and overall. He tallied a personal best and a World Championships record 11,660 points in the men's tricks finals and leaped 221 feet in jumping, clinching the World title with a record leap of 232 feet. He also upped his tricks record with 11,750 points and ran 1-1/2 buoys at 35 feet off in slalom. His overall tally of 2,838.98 points from these three events was a WC overall record. Finishing second among the men nominated for September was freestyle wrestler Kerry McCoy (Bethlehem, Pa.), who was just two points behind Siemers in the voting. McCoy, a 2000 Olymipan, won his first World medal last month, capturing silver at 120kg/264.5lbs. at the 2003 World Championships in New York, N.Y. He lost a 4-1 overtime match to Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan in the finals. In his four prior matches, McCoy recorded two pins and outscored his other two opponents, 16-1. McCoy was one of two U.S. men's wrestlers to win a medal at the World Championships, and his success helped the U.S. squad to place second in the team standings, the highest U.S. finish since 1999. Elite USA triathlete Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), whose powerful "kick" at the end of the 10 km run helped him sprint to the finish and win the Madrid ITU World Cup race on Sept. 21, was third in voting on the men's September ballot. Pre-victory in Spain, Kemper finished eighth at the ITU World Cup in Nice, France on Sept. 12. By completing the Madrid race in a time of 1:50:02, Kemper became the first U.S. male since 1993 to win a World Cup for USA Triathlon. The USOC Team of the Month honor was awarded to the 2003 USA Bowling Team. The men and women of the USA Bowling Team combined for nine overall medals at the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs World Championships, Sept. 9-20 in Kuala Lunpur, Malaysia. That total was more than any other country and the most by the U.S. in the World Championships since 1987. The men's team of Bill Hoffman (Columbus, Ohio), Dino Castillo (Dallas, Texas), Scott Pohl (Eagan, Minn.), David Haynes (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Tim Mack (Garfield, N.J.) earned the five-player silver medal while in the three-player event Hoffman, Castillo and Mack collected gold. The women's trio of Diandra Hyman (Dyer, In.), Lucy Sandelin (Tampa, Fla.) and Anita Manns (Austin, Texas) earned a bronze medal while Hyman and Sandelin went on to earn two silver medals in doubles bowling. Second in the Team of the Month voting was the 2003 U.S. Elite Water Ski Team, which successfully defended its World title at the 2003 World Championships, Sept. 15-21 at the Swiss Ski School in Clermont, Fla. The U.S. tallied 8,596.22 points in winning its second consecutive and 28th World team title in the biannual event, defeating 38 countries in the race for the coveted crown. The U.S. team of Rhoni Barton (Orlando, Fla.), Brandi Hunt (Clermont, Fla.), Regina Jaquess (Suwanee, Ga.), Freddy Krueger (Winter Garden, Fla.), Jimmy Siemers (Marshalltown, Iowa/Round Rock, Texas) and Karen Truelove (Winter Garden, Fla.) combined for six medals, including four gold. Results (first place votes in parentheses) WOMEN 1. Kristie Marano, wrestling, 34 (9) 2. Regina Jaquess , waterskiing, 22 (3) 3. Lynn Seidemann, equestrian 12 (1) MEN 1. Jimmy Siemers , waterskiing, 23 (5) 2. Kerry McCoy , wrestling, 21 (3) 3. Hunter Kemper, triathlon, 19 (4) Also receiving first place votes: Tim Mack (Bowling) TEAM 1. USA Bowling Team , 32 (6) 2. U.S. Elite Water Ski Team, 31 (7)