CHAMPIONSHIPS
Minnesota boys, High Performance girls capture 2015 Junior Nationals titles
By Terry L. Kolesar, Editor
Championships aſter capturing the 2015 USA Curl- ing Junior National Championships Jan. 24 at the Lake Region Curling Club. Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) and her team of
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Sarah Anderson (Broomall, Pa.), Mackenzie Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.), Jenna Haag (Milton, Wis.), and Taylor Anderson (Broomall, Pa.) used a lot of of- fense to defeat Madison Bear’s Massachusetts rink, 10-6. “Patience is a big thing. We knew we were the
best team coming in but we just had to show it,” said Christensen, who won the junior title in 2014 and 2012. “We had to stay patient throughout the whole week and make the shots we needed to make.” Meyers and his team of Quinn Evenson (Fair-
banks, Alaska), Steven Szemple (Edison, N.J.), and William Pryor (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y.) needed an extra end to take down the High Performance rink led by two-time junior champion Korey Drop- kin, 5-4. Te Meyers and Christensen rinks will now represent the U.S. at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Feb. 28-March 8. Tis is the first junior title for the Meyers rink and the Anderson twins. “We all worked really hard this year so to have
that pay off means so much to us,” said Meyers, 21, who is competing in his final year of junior eligibil- ity. “We made all of our shots toward the end of the game so we were on a roll. We made some perfect shots that won this game. Tose felt as good as win- ning the game.” Bear (Pardeeville, Wis.) and her team of Jenna
Burchesky (Walpole, Mass.), Allison Howell (Brick, N.J.), and Annmarie Dubberstein (Portage, Wis.), playing in their first junior national championship, fell behind but battled back and made the HP girls earn their trip to the World Juniors. “We were down 2-7, but we felt like we were still
in it and could keep going for it. Our coach was su- per supportive during the fiſth end and we came back and hit it hard in the next few ends,” said Bear, 17, who was skipping in her first major national title game. “It’s great to have a team that is so supportive, and I couldn’t have been here without all of them. It was fun. Next year we’ll have a better run, hope- fully.”
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usacurl.org ))
eams skipped by Duluth’s Cory Chris- tensen and Ethan Meyers will represent the U.S. at the upcoming World Junior
ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS:
High Performance (Korey Dropkin) Minnesota 2 (Ethan Meyers) Minnesota 1 (Jake Vukich) Pennsylvania (Cody Clouser) Maryland (Hunter Clawson)
North Dakota (Alex Kitchens) 4-5 Wisconsin 2 (Matthew Sandquist) Washington (Nicholas Connolly) Wisconsin 1 (Cody Falk) Michigan (Wesley Pedersen)
Page 1-2 playoffs:
*High Performance 101 000 200 0 1 – 5 Minnesota 2
000 110 010 1 0 – 4 Page 3-4 playoffs:
*Minnesota 1 Pennsylvania
*Minnesota 2 Minnesota 1
001 001 000 1 – 3 000 100 010 0 – 2 Semifinal:
100 001 000 2 1 –5
001 010 011 0 0 – 4 Final:
*High Performance 001 010 010 1 0 – 4 Minnesota 2
*last rock in first end Christensen’s team had an opportunity to get the
offense ramped up high from the opening end, tak- ing advantage of a few half shots by Massachusetts to draw for three with the final stone. Aſter the sec- ond end was blanked, the Massachusetts ladies capi- talized on a missed takeout by Christensen to score two points and close the gap to 3-2. A key miss with Bear’s first skip stone in the fourth end allowed the HP girls to once again draw for three points, which extended the lead to 6-2. Aſter giving up a single steal in the fiſth, Massa-
chusetts battled back with a draw for three points aſter the HP team failed on a double takeout attempt with Christensen’s last stone. Massachusetts tight- ened the gap with a steal of one point in the eighth end aſter the HP team could not convert a runback to remove the Massachusetts stone buried above the tee-line. A missed takeout in the next end, however, would haunt the Massachusetts rink as Christensen had an open draw for three more points. Tat lead was too big for the young Massachusetts rink to overcome and they offered the handshake aſter the ninth end. “All week long we knew what goal we were going for and we just stayed focused,” said Christensen,
000 100 201 0 1 – 5
9-0 8-1 6-3 5-4 4-5
3-6 2-7 2-7 2-7
ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS:
High Performance (Cory Christensen) 8-1 North Dakota (Abi Lindgren) Wisconsin (Tina Persinger) Massachusetts I (Madison Bear) Minnesota 2 (Melissa Runing) Michigan (Sidney Schroeder)
Massachusetts 2 (Elizabeth Cousins) Alaska (Cora Farrell)
Minnesota 1 (Courtney Osbakken) Illinois (Sarah Calcutt)
High Performance 003 020 004 x – 9 *North Dakota 110 100 010 x – 4 Page 3-4 playoffs:
Wisconsin North Dakota 020 202 000 x – 6
*Massachusetts 1 102 010 031 x – 8 Semifinal:
100 020 030 0 – 6
*Massachusetts 1 002 102 002 1 – 8 Final:
*High Performance 300 310 003 x – 10 Massachusetts 1 002 003 010 x – 6 *last rock in first end
20, who also will compete in next month’s U.S. Women’s National Championship. “It’s very excit- ing, especially with this new team. It’s been a really great season so far. We’re really excited to go to the Worlds. We’ve worked hard all year and want to prove it. We’re definitely hoping to medal this time. We have a great shot with this team and playing in the women’s nationals in a couple of weeks will be good practice and experience for us.” Te men’s game was conservative for the most
part. Te Meyers rink was forced to draw for a single point in the fourth end to tie the game, 1-1. Te lone deuce of the game came in the seventh end when the Meyers rink took advantage of a miss by the HP boys and Minnesota drew into the four-foot for two points. Dropkin’s rink was set up for a deuce as well in the eighth end until Meyers converted a double takeout to lie two, forcing the HP team to draw in for a single to tie the game. Minnesota was then forced to take a single point in the ninth end. Minnesota got a stone covering half of the but-
ton above the tee-line early in the 10th end with two HP stones above it in the four-foot. Howell’s first vice skip stone skimmed past the high guard to get into the house to nudge the stones but it wasn’t
7-2 7-2 6-3 6-3 5-4 2-7 2-7 2-7 0-9
Tiebreaker: Massachusetts 7, Minnesota 5 Page 1-2 playoffs:
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