Managing distractions is key
Four draws with a pair of men’s and women’s games are in the books so far at the 2024 U.S. National Championships in East Rutherford, NJ.
Contested at the American Dream “retail and entertainment center” located in the shadows of New York City, Elizabeth Cousins’ squad sits atop the women’s standings at 2-0 along with Team Delaney Strouse.
On the opening night of competition, the Cousins foursome easily dispatched Team Rachel Workin 12-3 in a game-shortened eight ends. And in their lone match on Tuesday, Team Cousins scored five in the eighth and ninth ends to hand Sarah Anderson an 11-5 defeat.
Anderson was just a few hours removed from a surprising 10-5 win over the defending champions skipped by Tabitha Peterson on Monday night.
Cousins, third Annmarie Dubberstein, second Allison Howell and lead Elizabeth Janiak have put up some big numbers in the early going. Over the course of two games, seven of their nine scoring ends have been multiple scores.
A native of Nashua, NH, Cousins said she’s been eager to have the opportunity to compete close to home this week.
“Being from Boston, I have taken a lot of trips to the Midwest and other places across the country to compete, so it’s a treat to be in driving distance this time,” Cousins said. “The east coast is home to many curlers already, so I’m hoping there will be a great crowd here. This is a special competition for sure.”
One adjustment so far this week has been curling in a shopping mall.
“The Rink at the American Dream mall is the most unique venue I’ve ever curled in,” she said. “I think it is great that we are playing in a public area. The more eyes that see curling, the better.”
Cousins, who was playing on the front end of Jamie Sinclair’s team two years ago, added that the biggest distraction isn’t the first-time curling observers but rather the local culinary choices inside the mall.
“It will definitely be an adjustment to play with the mall music and other noises in the background,” Cousins said. “During practice today, I could smell fresh-baked cookies coming from the nearby restaurants. I also heard there was a rogue french fry that fell onto the ice from the top-level food court.
“Managing distractions quickly is one of my goals for this week. I’m excited this will be a unique and fun experience.”
Today, the ante goes up a bit today for Team Cousins as they face one of the favorites in Team Strouse at 8:00 a.m. followed by Christine McMakin’s squad (1-1) at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
The men’s side of the competition is being led by a familiar face. John Shuster has run roughshod over his two opponents, defeating Team Dunnam and Team Connolly by a combined score of 21-5 (in just 13 ends).
Team Shuster sits atop the overall standings at 2-0 along with Ethan Sampson’s rink.
Trailing 6-4 after seven ends and then playing the ninth against Wesley Wendling in a 6-6 tie, Sampson stole a pair to win their opener on Tuesday morning.
In their second game of the day last night, Sampson once again staged another late comeback. Veteran skip Rich Ruohonen held a 4-2 lead after but Sampson stole a pair in the eighth and two more in the 10th end for a 7-4 victory.
Wednesday is the busiest day of the U.S. Nationals with two men’s and two women’s draws. The action gets underway at 8:00 a.m. (ET) with the first women draw followed by the men at 12:00 p.m. (ET). Every draw is available and streaming live via CurlingZone.