CHAMPIONSHIPS High Performance teams sweep to gold
By Terry L. Davis, Editor,
terry.davis@usacurl.org
pionship title. Clubmate Korey Dropkin earned his third title in leading the men’s High Perfor- mance team to victory on Jan. 23 over Maryland in the gold-medal matches at the Willmar Curl- ing Club in Willmar, Minn. Christensen earned her fourth title and third
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in a row with a 7-0 shutout of Minnesota II’s Me- lissa Runing rink. Christensen, 21, and her High Performance Program teammates Sarah Ander- son (Broomall, Pa.), Taylor Anderson (Broomall, Pa.), Madison Bear (Pardeeville, Wis.), and Christine McMakin (St. Paul, Minn.) scored three points in the opening end and then capi- talized on steal opportunities to take a 7-0 lead at the halfway mark. Runing (North Mankato, Minn.) and her team of Courtney Osbakken (Two Harbors, Minn.), Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.), and Alyson Deegan (St. Peter, Minn.) tried in earnest to get on the scoreboard but were forced to blank the sixth end and offered the handshakes thereaſter. “It was a really solid week for our team. It was
awesome to have our last Junior Nationals end with an 11-0 record. Still lots of work to be done though,” Christensen said. Te men’s final between Dropkin and Mary-
land’s Hunter Clawson rink was much closer. Dropkin, 20, and teammates Tom Howell (Bent- leyville, Ohio), Mark Fenner (Bemidji, Minn.), Alex Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), and Quinn
t’s a three-peat for Duluth’s Cory Chris- tensen as she led her team to the 2016 USA Curling Junior Women’s National Cham-
Round robin standings: Men Maryland (Hunter Clawson)
High Performance (Korey Dropkin) Illinois (Andrew Stopera)
Washington (Nicholas Connolly) Massachusetts (Chase Sinnett) Minnesota II (Joshua Moore) Minnesota I (Riley Fenson) North Dakota (Tim Hodek) Michigan (Andrew McDonald) Wisconsin (Rob Shlimovitz)
Page 1-2 playoff: *Maryland
Page 3-4 playoff: *Illinois
Washington 020 020 001 1 – 6 High Performance 000 200 210 0 – 5
000 113 003 x – 8 010 000 300 x – 4
Semifinal: High Performance 020 100 130 x – 7 *Illinois
001 010 000 x – 2
Gold-medal game: *Maryland
201 001 001 x – 5
High Performance 020 200 030 x – 7 *last rock in first end
Evenson (Fairbanks, Alaska) made a takeout to score two points in the fourth end to take the team’s first lead. Aſter holding Clawson, 19, and his team of Cody Clouser (Berwyn, Pa.), Caleb Clawson (Clarksville, Md.), Andrew Dunnam (Dresher, Pa.), and Eli Clawson (Clarksville, Md.) to a single point in the sixth end, Dropkin’s team scored a key three-ender in the eighth end to take the lead for good. Maryland could only muster a single in the ninth end, giving the last rock advantage back to Dropkin’s team to close out the game. “Tis is honestly an unbelievable feeling.
We've worked so hard for so long, falling short of the gold a couple years in a row,” Dropkin said. "So to stand where we are now with the adver- sity we’ve faced, especially earlier this week, we are just so thrilled. I’m so proud of my guys and couldn’t ask for a better group to share this expe- rience with.” Tis is the third junior national title for Drop-
Tom Howell (above) yells to his sweepers to hurry. 8 ))
usacurl.org
kin, 20, a student at the University of Minnesota- Duluth, and second as skip. Tis is the third title for Howell as well and second for Fenner and Fenson. Evenson, 20, repeats as junior champion aſter winning with Ethan Meyers last season. In addition, it is the last year of junior eligibility for the Dropkin rink. Te men’s team is coached by
8-1 7-2 6-3 5-4 4-5 4-5 4-5 3-6 2-7 2-7
Round robin standings: Women
High Performance (Cory Christensen) Minnesota II (Melissa Runing)
Wisconsin I (Annmarie Dubberstein) North Dakota (Emily Brekke) Minnesota I (Emily Quello) Alaska (Cora Farrell)
Massachusetts I (Elizabeth Cousins) Wisconsin II (Sidney Schroeder) Massachusetts II (Rebecca Rodgers) Michigan (Maya Willertz)
Page 1-2 game: High Performance 002 132 0xx x – 8 *Minnesota II
100 000 1xx x – 2
Page 3-4 game: *Wisconsin I North Dakota
Semifinal: *Minnesota II Wisconsin I
102 030 03x x – 9 010 100 10x x – 3
100 123 010 1 – 9 012 000 103 0 – 7
Gold-medal game: *High Performance 301 210 xxx x – 7 Minnesota II
000 000 xxx x – 0 *last rock in first end
2010 Olympic coach Wally Henry (Beaver Dam, Wis.). Christensen, 21, who won her first title in 2012
at age 17, will make her fourth appearance as skip at the upcoming World Junior Championships. She won the title last season with the Anderson twins, marking their first junior title at the time. Tis is the first junior championship for Bear and McMakin, who are the only team members with remaining junior eligibility moving forward. Te women’s team is coached by Dave Jensen (Bismarck, N.D.). “We are looking forward to a great week at Women’s Nationals in preparation for winning a medal at Junior Worlds,” Ander- son said. Te two junior teams will compete in the 2016 USA Curling National Championships Feb. 6-13 in Jacksonville, Fla. Clawson’s team also qualified for the event. Te 2016 World Junior Championships, will
take place March 5-13 in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the closing banquet, Maryland's Caleb
Clawson was the recipient of the Katie Beck Memorial Award, which honors excellence in the second position. Te Curtis Cup for Sports- manship Awards winners were Wisconsin I's Annmarie Dubberstein rink and Maryland's Hunter Clawson rink (team rosters listed on next page in medalists section). Q
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