USA Curling 2004-05 Athlete Biography

CURLING HIGHLIGHTS

U.S. Junior National Championships: 2005

Washington State Junior Championships: 2005 (champion), 2003 (runner-up)

PERSONAL FILE

Curls out of: Granite Curling Club, Seattle

Nickname: Jondor the Burninator. Why this nickname? "There are cottonwood trees near Zach Radmer's house that every spring rain down 'fluff' upon his neighborhood. This fluff burns really fast when you put a light or match to it and so every spring since Zach moved into this house we would have fun burning the fluff. Then in the one particular incident I lit the fluff in a less controlled area on Zach's driveway. When the cotton burned, it started spreading all around and lit some dry leaves that were under all the cotton. Before I knew it, there was a small forest fire taking over half his driveway that I'm frantically trying to stamp out, so I yell for help to Zach, Greg and Aaron (other friends) and they start helping stamp, and eventually got hoses in the action to drown the blaze. If rapid action had not been take, the flames would have breached into some heavy brush and probably become a serious danger to nearby houses. This is why this incident is my most embarrassing moment ever. The actual name Jondor the Burninator is a parody on the popular dragon character from homestarrunner.com, Trogdor the Burninator."

Curling start: "I got started curling because of my longtime friend Bret (his dad having a fair share of national championships). He just took me down to the Granite CC in Seattle to check it out, and I got hooked."

What he enjoys most about the sport: "I enjoy the sport because it's required both mental and physical aspects, making it so you have to understand what you're doing and be able to do it to be competitive."

Curling family: "As far as I know, I am the first person in my entire family line to pick up curling (and hopefully it will continue after me)."

Curling goal: "My only real goal for curling is to play some good games and have fun. Sure, winning some competitions would be awesome, but putting up a good fight and enjoying myself is more important."

Hobbies: Frisbee, chess, video games, watching movies, playing the guitar. Jon was a member of his high school's chess team that finished third at state.

Something unique: "One interesting thing that many people don't know about me is that I am 100% deaf in my left ear so hearing has been somewhat of an issue my entire life."