Peterson Repeats as U.S. Olympic Trials Champion

Tabitha Peterson’s East St. Paul, MN foursome won their second straight U.S. Olympic Team Trials women’s crown Saturday night, and are off to February’s Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Peterson, Nina Roth, Tara Peterson, Rebecca Hamilton and alternate Aileen Geving defeated Cory Christensen of Chaska, MN 9-4, capping a brilliant week at Baxter Arena in Omaha, NE. The team went 9-1 in the round robin and won both games in a best-of-three playoff against Christensen’s young squad, who went 7-5 over the week.

With the score tied 2-2 after three ends, Peterson scored a deuce in the fourth and added a steal in the fifth for a 6-2 lead. A sixth-end deuce for Christensen was followed by another Peterson two-count, and after a final Peterson steal in the eighth, Christensen conceded.

“We’re definitely groovin’,” said Peterson. “We’ve put a lot of work in, and all our pre-game and post-game meetings we’re just trying to get better and better, and learn from every game. Just try to go that extra inch each time.”

Earlier Saturday, John Shuster kept his Olympic hopes alive with a thrilling desperation victory over Korey Dropkin.

At the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, the team was skipped by Nina Roth, with Peterson at third and Geving throwing lead. Peterson’s twin sister Tara wasn’t on the team, which finished 4-5, one game out of a tiebreaker spot.

The new lineup, which includes Canadian coach Laine Peters, won a surprise bronze medal at last April’s world championship and heads to Beijing with a strong resume—including multiple playoff appearances at recent Grand Slam tournaments.

Hamilton and her brother Matt—who plays second for PyeongChang men’s champion John Shuster— also teamed up to represented the U.S. in mixed doubles in South Korea, finishing 2-5 for sixth place.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start,” said Christensen, the current national champion who is backed by Sarah and Taylor Anderson and Vicky Persinger. “We just weren’t executing as well as we needed to really win the game.

“Tab’s team played great. They’ve had a great season, Tab’s jumped into the skip position and she’s just phenomenal to watch.

“They’re a great team,” added the 26-year-old, who began to tear up.

Christensen played in six U.S. junior championships, winning four titles and a silver medal at the 2016 World Juniors. She also skipped a women’s squad to silver at two previous U.S. nationals, in 2018 and 2020.

The final sudden-death men’s playoff takes place at 8:00 p.m. CT with live coverage on NBCSN and/or Peacock. The previous start time (5:00p.m.) was changed to accommodate television.