2017 United States Olympic curling trials

2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials
Host cityOmaha, Nebraska
ArenaBaxter Arena
DatesNovember 11–18, 2017
Men's winner John Shuster
Curling clubDuluth CC, Duluth, Minnesota
SkipJohn Shuster
ThirdTyler George
SecondMatt Hamilton
LeadJohn Landsteiner
Finalist Heath McCormick
Women's winner Nina Roth
Curling clubFour Seasons CC, Blaine, Minnesota
SkipNina Roth
ThirdTabitha Peterson
SecondAileen Geving
LeadBecca Hamilton
Finalist Jamie Sinclair
« 2013
2021 »

The 2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials were held from November 11–18, 2017[1] at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. Five teams qualified for the men's tournament and three teams qualified for the women's tournament. The winner of each tournament represented the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.

Road to the Trials

USA Curling used a number of selection criteria to determine which teams would qualify for the Olympic Trials.[2] If an American team placed in the top five at the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship or 2017 World Women's Curling Championship, that team would automatically qualify for the Olympic Trials. The John Shuster and Nina Roth rinks qualified via this method. Next, teams had an opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Trials by placing in the top 15 of the World Curling Tour Order of Merit standings for the 2016–17 season. No US teams placed high enough in these standings to automatically qualify in this manner. The final criterion used for inclusion in the trial was a discretionary selection by USA Curling's Olympic Team Selection Committee. The committee was required to choose some number of teams for each tournament to ensure that there were a minimum of three and a maximum of five teams competing. The committee chose three men's teams and two women's teams.[3] A fifth team, skipped by Todd Birr, was added to the men's tournament after a successful appeal to the USCA Judiciary Hearing Panel, alleging that the Olympic Team Selection Committee erred in its decision not to include Team Birr in the tournament.[4]

Men

Teams

Five teams qualified for the men's tournament:[5]

Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Locale Qualification method
John Shuster Tyler George Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Joe Polo Duluth, Minnesota Top 5 finish at 2017 World Men's Curling Championship
Heath McCormick Chris Plys Korey Dropkin Tom Howell Rich Ruohonen Blaine, Minnesota Discretionary selection
Brady Clark Greg Persinger Colin Hufman Philip Tilker Seattle, Washington Discretionary selection
Craig Brown Jason Smith Kroy Nernberger Sean Beighton Quinn Evenson Madison, Wisconsin Discretionary selection
Todd Birr John Benton Hunter Clawson Tom O'Connor Blaine, Minnesota Appeal to USCA Judiciary Hearing Panel

Round-robin standings

Final round-robin standings

Key
Teams to Final
Teams to Tiebreaker
Skip W L PF PA Ends
Won
Ends
Lost
Blank
Ends
Stolen
Ends
Shot
Pct.
John Shuster 6 2 49 42 33 31 11 10 81%
Heath McCormick 5 3 53 39 31 28 13 9 82%
Todd Birr 5 3 47 49 33 29 13 8 82%
Craig Brown 3 5 42 47 31 31 13 9 82%
Brady Clark 1 7 45 59 28 37 8 7 79%

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−6).

Draw 1

Saturday, November 11, 1:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 2 7
Brady Clark 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 6
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Craig Brown 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 X X X 3
Heath McCormick 0 4 0 1 1 0 2 X X X 8

Draw 2

Saturday, November 11, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Todd Birr 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 X 4
Craig Brown 1 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 X 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Brady Clark 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 5
Heath McCormick 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 8

Draw 3

Sunday, November 12, 1:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Heath McCormick 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 X 5
John Shuster 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 1 X 7
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Todd Birr 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 9
Brady Clark 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 6

Draw 4

Sunday, November 12, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
John Shuster 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 6
Craig Brown 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 5
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Heath McCormick 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 X 6
Todd Birr 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 X 2

Draw 5

Monday, November 13, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 5
Todd Birr 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 1 1 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Craig Brown 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 5
Brady Clark 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 6

Draw 6

Monday, November 13, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Craig Brown 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 6
Heath McCormick 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 1 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Brady Clark 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 X 6
John Shuster 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 X 7

Draw 7

Tuesday, November 14, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Todd Birr 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 3 0 2 9
Brady Clark 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 6
Heath McCormick 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 5

Draw 8

Tuesday, November 14, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Heath McCormick 1 0 1 0 0 5 X X X X 7
Brady Clark 0 1 0 1 0 0 X X X X 2
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Todd Birr 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 5
Craig Brown 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Draw 9

Wednesday, November 15, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Brady Clark 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 X X 6
Craig Brown 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 X X 7
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 2 0 2 0 2 1 X X X X 7
Todd Birr 0 1 0 1 0 0 X X X X 2

Draw 10

Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Heath McCormick 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 6
Todd Birr 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 8
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Craig Brown 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 5
John Shuster 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4

Tiebreaker

Thursday, November 16, 8:30 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Heath McCormick 2 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 8
Todd Birr 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 6

Final

The final round was between the top two teams at the end of the round robin. The teams played a best-of-three series.

Finals
     
1 John Shuster 3 9 7
2 Heath McCormick 5 4 5

Game 1

Thursday, November 16, 6:00pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 X 3
Heath McCormick 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 X 5
Player percentages
John Shuster Heath McCormick
John Landsteiner 87% Tom Howell 84%
Matt Hamilton 80% Korey Dropkin 94%
Tyler George 78% Chris Plys 79%
John Shuster 71% Heath McCormick 91%
Total 79% Total 87%

Game 2

Friday, November 17, 6:30pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 X 9
Heath McCormick 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 X 4
Player percentages
John Shuster Heath McCormick
John Landsteiner 99% Tom Howell 92%
Matt Hamilton 93% Korey Dropkin 79%
Tyler George 96% Chris Plys 77%
John Shuster 94% Heath McCormick 82%
Total 96% Total 82%

Game 3

Saturday, November 18, 6:30pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
John Shuster 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 7
Heath McCormick 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 5
Player percentages
John Shuster Heath McCormick
John Landsteiner 97% Tom Howell 96%
Matt Hamilton 89% Korey Dropkin 82%
Tyler George 82% Chris Plys 85%
John Shuster 90% Heath McCormick 89%
Total 90% Total 88%

Women

Teams

Three teams qualified for the women's tournament:[5]

Skip Third Second Lead Locale Qualification method
Nina Roth Tabitha Peterson Aileen Geving Becca Hamilton Madison, Wisconsin Top 5 finish at 2017 World Women's Curling Championship
Jamie Sinclair Alex Carlson Vicky Persinger Monica Walker Blaine, Minnesota Discretionary selection
Cory Christensen Sarah Anderson Taylor Anderson Jenna Martin Blaine, Minnesota Discretionary selection

Round-robin standings

Final round-robin standings

Key
Teams to Final
Skip W L PF PA Ends
Won
Ends
Lost
Blank
Ends
Stolen
Ends
Shot
Pct.
Jamie Sinclair 4 2 42 32 24 23 9 4 82%
Nina Roth 4 2 43 38 27 23 9 5 81%
Cory Christensen 1 5 26 43 20 25 10 1 77%

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−6).

Draw 1

Saturday, November 11, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Nina Roth 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 8
Jamie Sinclair 3 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 9

Draw 2

Sunday, November 12, 1:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Nina Roth 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 7
Cory Christensen 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 6

Draw 3

Sunday, November 12, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Jamie Sinclair 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 6
Cory Christensen 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 7

Draw 4

Monday, November 13, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Cory Christensen 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 X X 2
Nina Roth 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 3 X X 9

Draw 5

Monday, November 13, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Jamie Sinclair 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 7
Nina Roth 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 8

Draw 6

Tuesday, November 14, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Jamie Sinclair 2 1 0 2 0 4 0 X X X 9
Cory Christensen 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 X X X 3

Draw 7

Tuesday, November 14, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Nina Roth 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 X 4
Jamie Sinclair 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 X 7

Draw 8

Wednesday, November 15, 11:00 am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Cory Christensen 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 6
Nina Roth 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 1 8

Draw 9

Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Cory Christensen 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 2
Jamie Sinclair 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X 4

Final

The final round was between the top two teams at the end of the round robin. The teams played a best-of-three series.

Finals
     
1 Jamie Sinclair 5 7 6
2 Nina Roth 6 6 7

Game 1

Thursday, November 16, 1:30 pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Jamie Sinclair 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 5
Nina Roth 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 6
Player percentages
Jamie Sinclair Nina Roth
Monica Walker 91% Becca Hamilton 88%
Vicky Persinger 76% Aileen Geving 86%
Alex Carlson 76% Tabitha Peterson 75%
Jamie Sinclair 72% Nina Roth 83%
Total 79% Total 83%

Game 2

Friday, November 17, 1:00pm

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
Jamie Sinclair 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 7
Nina Roth 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 6
Player percentages
Jamie Sinclair Nina Roth
Monica Walker 81% Becca Hamilton 93%
Vicky Persinger 82% Aileen Geving 77%
Alex Carlson 88% Tabitha Peterson 79%
Jamie Sinclair 79% Nina Roth 71%
Total 82% Total 80%

Game 3

Saturday, November 18, 10:00am

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
Jamie Sinclair 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 6
Nina Roth 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 7
Player percentages
Jamie Sinclair Nina Roth
Monica Walker 92% Becca Hamilton 80%
Vicky Persinger 73% Aileen Geving 90%
Alex Carlson 77% Tabitha Peterson 84%
Jamie Sinclair 69% Nina Roth 75%
Total 78% Total 82%

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Team Trials". teamUSA.org. USA Curling. Archived from the original on 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  2. ^ "Team Selection Procedures" (PDF). teamUSA.org. USA Curling. 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  3. ^ Davis, Terry L. (2017-05-12). "Field set for 2018 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling". teamUSA.org. USA Curling. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  4. ^ Davis, Terry L. (2017-09-27). "Fifth men's team added to Olympic Trials field". teamUSA.org. USA Curling. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  5. ^ a b "Qualified Teams". teamUSA.org. USA Curling. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-09.