The gold medal in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games was great But 2019 is a new year, and the USA Curling National Championships start Saturday at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
A total of 10 men’s teams and eight women’s teams will vie to be in the top four (men) or top three for the women, to advance to the playoffs. The top entries include (listed by skips):
Men:
John Shuster ~ 2018 Olympic gold medalists; national champ 2003-05-06-09-15-17
Rich Ruohonen ~ U.S. national champion 2008 and 2018
Todd Birr ~ U.S. national champion 2007
Women:
Jamie Sinclair ~ U.S. national champion 2017-18
Nina Roth ~ U.S. national champion 2010-14; 2018 U.S. Olympic Trials winner
Cory Christensen ~ 2018 U.S. national runner-up
Shuster’s rink returns three of the four players from its PyeongChang squad, including Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner.
Round-robin play will continue through next Thursday with playoffs beginning on Friday (15th) and the finals on Saturday (16th).
Look for results here.