Press Coverage

George, Brown & Pottinger earn women's playoff berths
February 13, 2013
Three of four women's playoff spots have been clinched at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies Pavilion in Green Bay, Wis.

Courtney George (St. Paul, Minn.) continues to hold on to the top spot in the standings with a 7-1 record after defeating Seattle's Cristin Clark rink, 9-4. "We stayed focused. We had to be very patient. Cristin played amazing. We weren't getting any breaks, so we just had to stay in the game and play head-to-head with her and we finally got our break in the end," George said.

Joining George in the playoffs so far are the defending champions led by Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario), who both earned wins this afternoon. Brown and teammates Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.), Jessica Schultz (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Ann Swisshelm (Chicago) earned their sixth win with an 8-5 victory over Sarah Anderson (Broomall, Pa.). The women's playoffs get underway at 8 p.m. Thursday.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond9.pdf

Final women's playoff spot up for grabs Friday
February 13, 2013
The final women's playoff team will be determined at 12 p.m. tomorrow in a tiebreaker game between Patti Lank and Alex Carlson at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies Pavilion in Green Bay, Wis.

Three teams ended up tied for first place, which dictated a change in the format from a Page playoff to a traditional No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3 team. Teams skipped by Courtney George (St. Paul, Minn.), Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario) and Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.) all finished the round robin with 7-2 records. George's team earns the No. 1 playoff seed based on draw shot challenge since the head-to-head is even amongst the three tied teams.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond10.pdf

Women's teams elbowing for playoff spots; Clark rink alone on top of men's division
February 12, 2013
The "P" word has been whispered a lot in the last day at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies as teams are starting to make their final push to qualify for the playoffs at the Resch Olympic Pavilion at the Cornerstone Community Ice Rink in Green Bay, Wis.

Alex Carlson's rink evened its record to 3-3 and halted a three-game losing skid to keep its playoff hopes alive. "This morning's win was really important. If we didn't win today we probably wouldn't be able to get into the playoffs with four losses," Carlson said.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond6.pdf

Playoff spots up for grabs at 2013 Nationals
February 12, 2013
With the men's playoffs set to start Friday morning, the men's field got even murkier as eight of 10 teams are still alive in the hunt at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies at the Resch Olympic Pavilion in Green Bay, Wis.

There are no unbeaten teams anymore as the sixth game of the men's round robin came to a conclusion at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center this afternoon. Mike Farbelow's rink came out firing on all cylinders to get past the previously undefeated Brady Clark rink, 9-3. Farbelow (Minneapolis, Minn.) and teammates Kevin Deeren (Chicago), Kraig Deeren (DeForest, Wis.) and Mark Lazar (Toledo, Ohio) took an early 3-1 advantage and broke the game open in the fifth end as they capitalized on mistakes by the Clark rink to draw for four points. With the loss, the Seattle-based Clark rink is now 5-1 atop the round robin standings. The win improves Farbelow's team to 3-3 with three games remaining to determine the playoff teams.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond7.pdf

Women's field starting to separate at 2013 Nationals
February 11, 2013
Four women's teams are tied at the top of the standings as the midway mark approaches in the round robin of the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies in Green Bay, Wis.

Courtney George's Minnesota rink improved to 3-1 with a 6-3 win over Patti Lank. The loss was the first for Lank's New York team this week at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center at the Resch Olympic Ice Pavilion.

"We feel good about where we are. There are no undefeated teams anymore. That was a huge win for us so we're very happy and going to just keep rolling," George said.

George's team capitalized on misses by Lank's team in the ninth end to take a 6-3 lead and ran their opponent out of stones.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond4.pdf

Seattle rink making its name known at 2013 Nationals
February 11, 2013
Seattle's Brady Clark rink doesn't mind playing the underdog role here at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies in Green Bay, Wis.

Clark's team is now 4-0, tied with the defending champions led by Heath McCormick, atop the men's standings at the Resch Olympic Pavilion at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center. Clark and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Darren Lehto (Seattle) and Philip Tilker (Seattle) slid past seven-time national champion Pete Fenson, 8-1.

"People don't see us a lot either on the Tour schedule or before Nationals because we're so far away from everyone," Beighon said. "We're kind of isolated on the West Coast. It's kind of a double edged sword. We don't get to see the teams we're going to play, and they don't see us either so they don't get to see how much we're preparing and practicing. We're kind of hiding out there on the West Coast."

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond5.pdf

Defending champions looking strong
February 10, 2013
The defending men's champions have picked up right where they left off last year as they improved to 2-0 this afternoon as the second day of the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies continued at the Resch Olympic Ice Pavilion at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center in Green Bay, Wis.

Heath McCormick (Sarnia, Ontario) and his team of Bill Stopera (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.), Martin Sather (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) and Dean Gemmell (Short Hills, N.J.) earned a 9-1 win last night and added a 9-3 victory this afternoon against Ryan Lemke (0-2) to keep their record perfect. The McCormick rink steamrolled through the national championship last year in Philadelphia going undefeated in the weeklong event.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond2.pdf

Lank rink alone at the top

February 10, 2013
Five rounds are in the books with one women's team still perfect at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships presented by Brooms Up Curling Supplies at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center in Green Bay, Wis.

Patti Lank's rink improved to 3-0 with a 10-8 win over Sarah Anderson to stay atop the women's leader board. After the Anderson rink came storming back into the game after trailing by five points, the 17-year-old skip from Philadelphia forced the veteran five-time women's champion to throw her final stone into the four-foot to win.

Five teams are tied for second place with 2-1 records. The defending champions, led by Allison Pottinger, slid past Becca Hamilton, 9-4, Sunday afternoon. The win was the second on the day for Pottinger's team. In contrast, Hamilton's rink dropped both of its games Sunday to fall to 1-2 in the standings.

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

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf icond3.pdf