FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009

Women's action gets underway at 2009 Challenge Round

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - Six women's teams are battling for the final four berths available to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling next month in Colorado as action opened up tonight at the Challenge Round at the Green Bay (Wis.) Curling Club.

Aileen Sormunen's team, featuring 2006 Olympians Jessica Schultz and Maureen Brunt (both of Minneapolis) got things started by earning a 7-3 win over Sandra McMakin's East Coast team.

Cristin Clark's Seattle-based team needed an extra end to earn a 6-4 win over Margie Smith's Minnesota team. Clark and teammates Sharon Vukich, Emily Good, Katy Sharpe and Gabrielle Coleman scored a single in the final end of regulation to force the extra frame. They then were able to earn the win with a steal.

Amy Wright's team from the Duluth Curling Club also got in the win column after defeating Lori Karst, 9-4.

In men's action tonight, John Shuster improved to 5-0 setting up a key showdown tomorrow morning with Greg Romaniuk's team, which also is 5-0. Shuster (Duluth, Minn.) and teammates Jason Smith (Cape Coral, Fla.), Jeff Isaacson (Gilbert, Minn.) and John Benton (St. Michael, Minn.) handed Craig Brown's team its first loss with a single in the extra end for a 10-9 win.

Pete Fenson's team teetered on the brink of dropping its third mark in the loss column but squeaked out a steal in the 10th end to defeat Jason Larway's Seattle team. Both the Fenson and Larway rinks are 3-2.

The Matt Hames team earned its first win of the tournament with an 8-2 defeat of the winless Brandon Corbett rink. Hames and teammates Matt Mielke, Bill Stopera and Dean Gemmell scored four points in the fourth end to take a commanding 5-2 lead and added a steal of two in the next end to shut down last year's junior national runners-up.

Craig Disher's North Dakota team improved to 3-1 with an 8-5 defeat of Bryan Wight's team. The loss drops Wight to 1-4.

The men's teams return to the ice at 8:30 a.m. Friday while the women begin at 1 p.m. as the round robin continues. The top four teams at the end of the round robin advance directly to the 2010 Olympic Team Trials, joining the other 12 teams that qualified earlier this month.

The USA-Brazil Challenge for the berth in the 2009 World Men's featuring USA's Todd Birr rink gets underway Friday night.

Live scoring of the Challenge Round and the Brazil-USA Challenge can be found at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks.

Standings:
Greg Romaniuk 5-0
John Shuster  5-0
Craig Brown  3-1
Craig Disher  3-1
Pete Fenson  3-2
Jason Larway  3-2
Bryan Wight  1-4
Matt Hames  1-4
Brandon Corbett 0-5
Dan Lilla  0-5

Women's standings:
Cristin Clark  1-0
Aileen Sormunen 1-0
Amy Wright  1-0
Lori Karst  0-1
Sandra McMakin 0-1
Margie Smith  0-1

USA Curling is sponsored by Kodiak Technology Group, AIT Worldwide Logistics and Nike.

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For more information: Terry Kolesar, USA Curling, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 715-344-1199, Ext. 202.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009

Shuster leads team to fourth straight victory at 2009 Challenge Round

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - 2006 Olympian John Shuster helped his team improve to 4-0 Thursday afternoon and inch closer to earning a berth to next month's 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Shuster (Duluth, Minn.) and teammates Jason Smith (Cape Coral, Fla.), Jeff Isaacson (Gilbert, Minn.) and John Benton (St. Michael, Minn.) defeated Brandon Corbett's New York junior team, 7-6, with a single in the 10th end to secure the win at the Capital Curling Club in Bismarck, N.D.

Greg Romaniuk's team won their fifth straight and will enjoy a night off as they eclipsed the half-way point of the tournament today with a 6-3 victory over the Matt Hames rink. Technically, the Romaniuk squad wasn't even supposed to be here playing but earned the snuck in the back door when Greg Persinger's team from Alaska opted out of the Challenge Round. That spot could be filled by an eligible team that played on the World Curling Tour and finished in the Top 10 among U.S. teams. Romaniuk (Snohomish, Wash.) and teammates Doug Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Leon Romaniuk (Kirkland, Wash.) and Troy Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.) used pivotal steals to knock off the Hames rink, which fell to 0-4.

Jason Larway's team improved to 3-1 with a 9-7 victory over the winless Dan Lilla rink from Wisconsin. Trailing at the midway point, Larway (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Colin Hufman (Seattle), Greg Johnson (Appleton, Wis.) and Bill Todhunter (Menasha, Wis.) scored four points in the sixth end, stole a single and cruised to their third straight win.

Bryan Wight's team picked up its first win with a 5-4 defeat of Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.). At the qualifying round earlier this month, Wight's team had Fenson's number then too, defeating them twice during the tournament. With the game tied 1-1 after four ends, Fenson's rink gave up a steal of one in the fifth end and a back-breaking steal of three to leave them chasing for points. They'd come up one short and fall to 2-2 in the standings. After the round robin, the top four teams earn the final berths to next month's Olympic Trials.

The men return to the ice at 7 tonight. The women's Challenge Round from the Green Bay (Wis.) Curling Club begins at 7 as well. The USA-Brazil Challenge for the berth in the 2009 World Men's Championship featuring USA's Todd Birr rink gets underway at 7 p.m. Friday in Bismarck.

Live scoring of the Challenge Round and the Brazil-USA Challenge can be found at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks.

Line scores: Larway 9, Lilla 7; Shuster 7, Corbett 6; Wight 5, Fenson 4; Romaniuk 6, Hames 3

Standings:
Greg Romaniuk 5-0
John Shuster  4-0
Craig Brown  3-0
Jason Larway  3-1
Craig Disher  2-1
Pete Fenson  2-2
Bryan Wight  1-3
Brandon Corbett 0-4
Matt Hames  0-4
Dan Lilla  0-5

USA Curling is sponsored by Kodiak Technology Group, AIT Worldwide Logistics and Nike.

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For more information: Terry Kolesar, USA Curling, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 715-344-1199, Ext. 202.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2009 

Washington team continues to roll at 2009 Challenge Round

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - Washington's Greg Romaniuk led his team to a fourth straight victory to stay atop the leaderboard at the 2009 Challenge Round as the pressure continues to earn the final four berths to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling next month in Colorado. 

Romaniuk (Snohomish, Wash.) and teammates Doug Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Leon Romaniuk (Kirkland, Wash.) and Troy Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.) only needed five full ends to put away Craig Disher's North Dakota squad, 6-2, in this morning's action at the Capital Curling Club in Bismarck, N.D. Back-to-back steals early on put the Romaniuk in command as the game reached the halfway point. (The teams played the sixth end up until Romaniuk's final toss, a draw for three points, when Disher offered the handshake to end the game. When all the stones aren't thrown, the scoreboard indicates an "x" for that end.) 

Craig Brown's defending national champions brought their record to 3-0 with a lopsided 11-5 win over Dan Lilla's Wisconsin-based team. Brown (Madison, Wis.) and teammates Rich Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), John Dunlop (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Pete Annis (Owatonna, Minn.) took control of their match with a pivotal steal of four points in the fourth end.  Trailing 8-2, Lilla (Galesville, Wis.) and teammates John Lilla (Trempealeau, Wis.), Kroy Nernberger (Medford, Wis.) and Casey Konopacky (Stevens Point, Wis.) scored two in the fifth end and stole a single in the sixth but the national champs would score three more to put the game away. 

Jason Larway's team won its second straight with a 5-4 defeat of the young Brandon Corbett team from New York. Additionally, Pete Fenson's team also stayed in the hunt with an 8-4 win over Matt Hames to improve to 2-1. The men return to the ice at 2 p.m. today.

The women's Challenge Round from the Green Bay (Wis.) Curling Club begins at 7 tonight. The USA-Brazil Challenge for the berth in the 2009 World Men's Championship featuring USA's Todd Birr rink gets underway at 7 p.m. Friday in Bismarck. 

Live scoring of the Challenge Round and the Brazil-USA Challenge can be found at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks. 

Line scores: Fenson 8, Hames 4; Brown 11, Lilla 5; Romaniuk 6, Disher 2; Larway 5, Corbett 4 

Standings:

Greg Romaniuk              4-0

Craig Brown                   3-0

John Shuster                  3-0

Craig Disher                   2-1

Pete Fenson                   2-1

Jason Larway                 2-1

Brandon Corbett             0-3

Matt Hames                   0-3

Bryan Wight                   0-3

Dan Lilla                        0-4 

USA Curling is sponsored by Kodiak Technology Group, AIT Worldwide Logistics and Nike. 

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For more information: Terry Kolesar, USA Curling, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 715-344-1199, Ext. 202.