Press Coverage

USA Curling names its top coaches for 2013
May 24, 2013
2007 world bronze medallist Bill Todhunter (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has been named USA Curling's Coach of the Year for 2013. Minnesota's Linda Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) is the recipient of the 2013 USA Curling Developmental Coach of the Year Award.

Both Todhunter and Christensen are first-time recipients of the coaching awards. Todhunter coaches the reigning U.S. national champion Erika Brown rink, which won several events on the World Curling Tour this season and placed fourth at the 2013 Women's World Championship in March.

"I was flattered. You never think about those personal awards in a team sport," said Todhunter, who won the U.S. men's national title twice. "Firstly, this is a team award because no matter what I do as a coach it has to be translated on the ice. It is another award for Team Erika Brown. I'm fortunate to coach a team that has four women who could have each easily been named Athlete of the Year."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icon2013coy_final.pdf

National champs Brown, Clark named top athletes for 2013; Brown rink top team
May 15, 2013
Reigning national champions Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario) and Brady Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) have been named USA Curling's top athletes for 2013. In addition, Brown's team is 2013 Team of the Year.

Brown, 40, a native of Madison, Wis., led her team to a very successful 2012-13 season, culminating by earning the U.S. its women's berth in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. This is the fourth time that Brown, who is a seven-time U.S. national champion, has earned the women's MVP award. She previously won in 2004, 1994 and 1988.

"Being named Athlete of the Year is a great honor, but I share it with my team," said Brown, who works in Ontario as a physician's assistant. "We each bring out the best in each other, and it is a sum of everyone's commitment and energy that earned this honor for me."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icon2013aoy_toy.pdf

Final field for 2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials announced
May 9, 2013
The final field for the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling has now been determined.

USA Curling's High Performance Selection Committee has selected the John Shuster rink as the final men's team to bring the field to five. That team includes 2010 Olympian Jeff Isaacson (Gilbert, Minn.), Jared Zezel (Duluth, Minn.), and John Landsteiner (Duluth, Minn.).

The Courtney George rink has been selected as the final women's team for the Trials. The team includes George (St. Paul, Minn.), Aileen Sormunen (Duluth, Minn.), Amanda McLean (Duluth, Minn.), and Monica Walker (Brighton, Mass.), who has replaced Julie Lilla.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconteams_announced_final_rev2.pdf

Plys rink wins 2013 WWUG Trials
May 5, 2013
He’s been an Olympian, a world junior champion, and now Chris Plys will return to the Winter World University Games (WWUG) to go for gold once again.

Plys (Duluth, Minn.) and teammates Stephen Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), Jared Zezel (Hibbing, Minn.), and Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) finished the WWUG Trials with a perfect 6-0 record after defeating reigning men’s national champion Sean Beighton (Seattle), 8-5. The Dropkin brothers and Zezel are no strangers to wearing USA on their backs either. All three have won the U.S. junior championship and competed at World Junior Championships. In addition, the younger Dropkin was a member of Team USA at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Plys won gold at the 2007 WWUG, was a member of Team USA at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and won the U.S. junior title four times. In addition, Plys won gold at the 2008 World Juniors.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconsaturday_late.pdf

Christensen rink wins 2013 WWUG Trials
May 5, 2013
2012 U.S. junior champion Cory Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) led her team to victory today to earn the right to represent the U.S. at the 2013 Winter World University Games (WWUG).

Christensen and teammates Becca Funk (McFarland, Wis.), Anna Bauman (Duluth, Minn.), Sonja Bauman (Duluth, Minn.), and Mackenzie Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.) defeated the Becca Hamilton rink, 9-4, in the tiebreaker to determine the champion this morning at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn. The Christensen rink now joins the Chris Plys team, which clinched its berth yesterday, as Team USA for the 2013 WWUG on Dec. 11-21 in Trentino, Italy.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconsunday.pdf

Duluth's Plys and Christensen rinks still on top at WWUG Trials
May 4, 2013
Minnesotans Chris Plys and Cory Christensen continue to lead their respective divisions as the second day of the U.S. Trials for the 2013 Winter World University Games (WWUG) swept along at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn.

2012 U.S. junior national champion Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) improved to 3-0 after a 9-3 win last night against the North Dakota squad led by Rachel Tharalson (Hoople, N.D.). Christensen and teammates Becca Funk (McFarland, Wis.), Anna Bauman (Duluth, Minn.), Sonja Bauman (Duluth, Minn.), and Mackenzie Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.) had the bye this morning and return to the ice this afternoon to take on 2006 Olympian Courtney George (2-1). A win over George's rink will declare Christensen's team the winner of the event. A loss will create one, possibly two, tiebreaker games.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconsaturday.pdf

Plys, Christensen rinks 2-0 at WWUG Trials
May 3, 2013
Two rounds are in the books at the playdown to determine Team USA for the upcoming Winter World University Games.

Teams skipped by 2010 Olympian and 2008 world junior champion Chris Plys (Duluth, Minn.) and 2012 U.S. junior national champion Cory Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) lead the way with perfect 2-0 records.

Play got underway this morning at Fogerty Arena, home of the year-round Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn. In this morning's competition, Plys and teammates Stephen Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.), Jared Zezel (Hibbing, Minn.), and Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) defeated Ethan Meyers, 8-6. The team followed up this afternoon with a 9-5 victory over Alex Leichter after scoring four points in the final end. Leichter (Wayland, Mass.) and teammates Chris Bond (Green Bay, Wis.), Tom Howell (Brick, N.J.), and Derek Corbett (Rochester, N.Y.) defeated Sean Beighton in the morning session to even their record. Beighton's team also is 1-1 after defeating the Meyers rink, 7-5.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconfriday.pdf

WWUG Trials begin Friday in Blaine, MN
May 1, 2013
The selection event to determine Team USA for the upcoming Winter World University Games (WWUG) gets underway Friday at Fogerty Arena, home of the year-round Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn.

The competition will feature four men’s teams and five women’s teams. The winning teams from the WWUG Trials will be nominated as Team USA for the 2013 WWUG, which is set to take place Dec. 11-21 in Trentino, Italy.

The first round of action begins at 9 a.m. Friday. The men will play a double round robin while the women will play a single round robin. An undefeated record will win the event on either side. Tiebreakers or a single game final will be played, if necessary. The field for the event features several Olympians, past junior national champions, and a reigning national champion.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconpreview_may.pdf