Laughlin, Nevada - A two-member coed team of accountants won The Nevada Passage made-for-television adventure competition Saturday after scoring the most points during six days of challenging sports that concluded with Jet Ski racing on the Colorado River, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, chair of the Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT), announced.

Linda Lindsay, 41, a bookkeeper from Petaluma, Ca., and Nate Simonson, 28, a credit analyst from Reno, Nev., received the winners’ trophy amid cheers of their fellow Nevada Passage athletes and an enthusiastic crowd of onlookers at the Laughlin Bay Marina, where the Jet Ski competition ended the challenging series of events. The Nevada Passage is designed to promote rural Nevada as an adventure destination to more than 2 million television viewers in 100 markets and to Internet visitors worldwide.

“All 20 of the fine athletes from around the nation who competed in The Nevada Passage experienced challenging adventures in ruggedly beautiful rural Nevada," Hunt said. "We applaud their unfaltering spirit of adventure and thank them for making The Nevada Passage a huge success.”

The one-hour syndicated program will air from August through February 2007. In Nevada it will be seen on KOLO-TV Channel 8 in Reno and KLAS-TV Channel 8 in Las Vegas, then will be seen on www.nevadapassage.com, where last year’s exciting 2005 Nevada Passage currently is viewable and downloadable.

"Nevada is a premier outdoor recreation destination and The Nevada Passage allows us to deliver that message in the most dynamic, entertaining way possible," NCOT Director Bruce Bommarito said. “TV viewers can watch this compelling action-packed program and see people enjoying action sports in parts of Nevada they probably never saw before.”

The Nevada Passage paired 20 hand-picked athletes into two-person coed teams, by profession. Taking second place honors for the highest overall score for the six days was the developers team, Gina DeTolve, 37, a project engineer from Valencia, Calif., and Ken Robins, 43, owner of a building renovation company from Cutchogue, N.Y.

Placing No. 3 overall was the firefighters team, Erin Price, 29, of Greensboro, N.C., and David Blondfield, 44, of Reno, Nev. Price was The Nevada Passage overall winner in 2005 with Brian Rothell, 42, of Richmond, Va., who competed again this year but was sidelined with a shoulder injury on the second day. Blondfield replaced Rothell.

In the daily competition, the financiers team, Rebecca Batizy, 30, a financial adviser from Boulder, Colo., and Tim Sprague, 47, vice president of finance for a Las Vegas home building corporation, won the first competition, May 8, pedaling recumbent bicycles on a remote highway south of Battle Mountain.

On May 9, the developers team, Robins and DeTolve, won the second day’s competition, after experiencing a rodeo cowboy-style adrenaline rush jumping aboard steers at the Winnemucca Events Center.

Accountants Simonson and Lindsay won the third and fourth days of competition, May 10 and 11, pumping antique railway handcars at the V&T Railway in Virginia City, and racing mountain bikes, then running on foot along trails in Austin.

The teachers team, Laura Home, 32, a sixth grade teacher from Santa Cruz, Calif., and Roger Villmow, 43, a middle-school math teacher from Colorado Springs, Colo., won the fifth event, racing Corvettes in autocross competition at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump May 12.

All of the events were scored by a point system with the winning team getting 20 and the team placing last, or 10th, getting one point.

Reno river guide Vinnie Lucido, 25, who was working as a Nevada Passage crew member, joined in the competition May 10 to replace Sprague of Las Vegas who dropped out because of an arm injury the previous day.

The other five teams were:

Entrepreneurs:
Stephanie Weisel, 43, owner of a golf and sports park from Paia, Hawaii, on the north shore of Maui.
Casey Fannin, 45, owner of an auto parts recycling company from Birmingham, Ala.

Journalists:
Stefani Jackenthal, 39, freelance adventure journalist from New York City.
Jef Mallett, 44, syndicated cartoonist from Lansing, Mich.

Medics:
Elizabeth Kollen, 25, registered nurse from Minneapolis, Minn.
Richard Costello, 39, emergency medical technician from Warmister, Pa.

Sheriffs:
Ana Maria Gill, 38, law enforcement officer from Long Beach, Calif.
Brian Atkinson, 29, law enforcement officer from Reno, Nev.

Trainers:
Lynn Henderson, 46, personal fitness trainer from Reno, Nev.
Jay Hachadoorian, 33, personal fitness trainer from New York.