FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2005
Field set for 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling
(STEVENS POINT,
Wis.) – The field is now set for
the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Curling Feb. 19-26 (2005) at the Madison
Curling Club in McFarland, Wis.
The final four qualifiers in the men’s and women’s fields
were determined this weekend at the Challenge Round in Eveleth,
Minn. Emerging from that competition were
teams skipped by Greg Eigner (Fort
Wayne, Ind.), Rich
Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Ben Tucker (St. Thomas, N.D.), Wes Johnson
(Everett, Wash.), Katlyn Schmitt (Bemidji, Minn.), Norma O’Leary (Silver Bay,
Minn.), Lori Karst (Madison, Wis.) and Aileen Sormunen (Duluth, Minn.).
They join the 12 previously qualified teams for the weeklong
event to determine the USA’s
entrants for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.
The winning men’s and women’s teams also will represent the USA at the
upcoming 2005 Ford World Curling Championships. The women’s championship is
slated March 19-26 in Paisley, Scotland, while the men’s championship will take
place April 2-10 in Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada.
The field for the Olympic Trials is comprised of several
past Olympians and several newcomers to the Trials process. Two-time Olympians
Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario/Madison, Wis.) and Debbie
McCormick (Rio, Wis.) hope to make a third appearance at the
Olympic Games. 2002 Olympian Ann Swisshelm Silver (Chicago)
will team up with McCormick along with Allison Pottinger (Eden
Prairie, Minn.) and Tracy Sachtjen
(Lodi, Wis.).
They are coached by 2002 Olympian Joni Cotten (Mount Prospect, Ill.).
Brown is teaming up with her 2004 national champion team of Patti Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.), Nicole
Joraanstad (Madison, Wis.)
and Natalie Nicholson (Bemidji,
Minn.). The field also features the
2002 World Junior champion and 2003 World Junior silver medalist team skipped
by Cassie Johnson (Bemidji,
Minn.).
The men’s field does not contain any past Olympians but there
are several past national champions, including teams skipped by Pete Fenson
(2003 national champion), Jason Larway (2004 champion), Scott Baird (1993 and ‘94
champion), Craig Brown (2000 champion), and Craig Disher (1997 champion).
The Fenson, Baird and Brown teams all feature players
hailing from the Bemidji Curling Club in Bemidji,
Minn. In all, 18 players from the
Bemidji club
have qualified for the Trials, the most representing any single club in the
field.
The 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling will be a
single round robin format. The top four teams in each division (men’s and
women’s) advance to their respective semifinals. The format for the semifinals
will feature the Page Playoff System: the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams will
meet, with the winner advancing to the finals and the losing team playing the
winner of the semifinal game between the No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams. The
loser of the No. 3 vs. No. 4 match will be out.
The 2006 Olympic Winter Games will take place Feb. 10-26 in Torino, Italy.
The curling competition will be held in the city of Pinerolo.
Curling became a full medal sport in 1998 at the Olympic Winter
Games in Nagano, Japan.
A complete list of competing teams and their hometowns is
listed below:
WOMEN’S FIELD:
- Team Richard: Nancy Richard (Sedro Woolley, Wash.),
Doreen Deaver (Auburn, Wash.),
Leslie Frosch (Shoreline, Wash.), Miyo
Konno (Monroe, Wash.)
- Team Lank: Patti Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.),
Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario/Madison, Wis.),
Nicole Joraanstad (Madison, Wis.), Natalie Nicholson (Bemidji, Minn.)
- Team Sormunen: Aileen Sormunen,
Courtney George, Amanda Jensen, Amanda McLean (all of Duluth, Minn.)
- Team Wright: Amy Wright (Duluth,
Minn.), Cristin Clark (Redmond, Wash.), Stephanie Roland (Petersburg,
N.D.), Lisa Rugen (Seattle, Wash.)
- Team McCormick: Debbie McCormick (Rio,
Wis.), Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.),
Ann Swisshelm Silver (Chicago), Tracy Sachtjen (Lodi, Wis.)
- Team Johnson: Cassie Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.),
Jamie Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.),
Jessica Schultz (Anchorage, Alaska), Maureen Brunt (Portage, Wis.)
- Team O’Leary: Norma O’Leary (Silver Bay, Minn.),
Becky Dobie (St. Peter, Minn.),
Anne Robb (Duluth, Minn.),
Patricia Luke (Duluth,
Minn.)
- Team Schmitt: Katlyn Schmitt
(Madison, Wis.), Monica Matson, Sarah
Schmitt, Sarah Lehman, Katie Goodyear (all of Bemidji, Minn.)
- Team Maroldo: Caitlin Maroldo
(Rochester, N.Y.), Chrissy Fink-Haase (Schenectady, N.Y.), Elizabeth
Williams (Utica, N.Y.), Erlene Puleo (New Hartford, N.Y.), Katie Beck (St.
Paul, Minn.)
- Team Karst: Lori Karst (Madison,
Wis.), Stephanie Radl (Verona, Wis.), Shelly Pape (Madison,
Wis.), Laurie Walters (DePere, Wis.)
MEN’S FIELD
·
Team
Fenson: Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm,
Minn.), Joe Polo (Cass Lake, Minn.),
John Shuster (Chisholm, Minn.)
·
Team
Disher: Craig Disher (Rolla, N.D.), Kevin Kakela (Rolla, N.D.), Joel
Jacobson (Langdon, N.D.), Carey Kakela (St. John, N.D.), Zach Jacobson
(Langdon, N.D.)
·
Team
Clark: Brady Clark (Redmond, Wash.), Greg Persinger (Anchorage, Alaska),
Colin Hufman (Lynnwood, Wash.), Ken Trask (Kirkland, Wash.), Doug Kauffman
(Lynnwood, Wash.)
·
Team Johnson:
Wes Johnson (Everett, Wash.),
Leon Romaniuk (Redmond, Wash.),
Brandon Way (Seattle), Mark Lazar (Toledo, Ohio), Quentin Way (Bemidji, Minn.)
·
Team
Eigner: Greg Eigner (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Jeremy Roe (Rio, Wis.), Patrick Roe (Madison, Wis.), Ken Olson (Plymouth,
Minn.), Mark Hartmann (Sun Prairie, Wis.)
·
Team
Larway: Jason Larway (Lynnwood, Wash.), Doug Pottinger (Eden Prairie,
Minn.), Joel Larway (Mukilteo, Wash.), Bill Todhunter (Appleton, Wis.)
·
Team
Brown: Craig Brown (Madison, Wis.), Matt Stevens (Bemidji, Minn.), Cody
Stevens (Bemidji, Minn.), John Dunlop (Wauwatosa, Wis.), Bob Liapis (Bemidji,
Minn.)
·
Team
Ruohonen: Rich Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Nick Myers (Mapleton,
Minn.), John Benton (St. Michael, Minn.), Pete Annis (Owatonna, Minn.)
·
Team
Baird: Scott Baird, Eric Fenson, Mark Haluptzok, Tim Johnson (all of Bemidji, Minn.)
·
Team
Tucker: Ben Tucker (St. Thomas, N.D.), Owen Sampson (Edmore,
N.D.), Ned Sampson (Edmore,
N.D.), Travis Kitchens (Devils Lake, N.D.)
Biographical information and photos of the qualified teams
can be found at www.usacurl.org. Media
accreditation forms for the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials also can be found on
the web at http://www.usacurl.org/media-acf04.htm.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics and AmerAust
Technologies as well as by General Motors, Chevron-Texaco and Bank of America
through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
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For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, rickp@curlingrocks.net, 715-344-1199