FOUR TEAMS EARN BERTHS IN MIXED DOUBLES OLYMPIC TRIALS
Photo by: Kyla Pritzl
[EDEN PRAIRIE, MN, August 12, 2024] — Ten teams competed at the USA Curling Mixed Doubles Pre-Trials this past weekend at the Chaska Curling Center and when play finished on Sunday evening, four secured berths in the Mixed Doubles Trials/Nationals, scheduled for February 17-23, 2025 at Rock Creek Curling in Lafayette, CO.
When round-robin play was complete, the team of Sarah Anderson and Andrew Stopera were at the top of the standings, finishing with an 8-1 record and earning their place in the Trials. As the highest finishing team not already on the National Team for Mixed Doubles, Anderson/Stopera have been added to the roster and will receive travel funding for the 2024-25 season. Others on the National Team for Mixed Doubles are those who qualified at the 2024 Mixed Doubles Nationals—Gold Medalists Team Hamilton/Hamilton, Silver Medalists Team Thiesse/Dropkin, and Bronze Medalists Team Geving/Shuster.
Team Bear/Oldenburg and Team Moores/Wheeler have also qualified for the 2026 Mixed Doubles Trials/Nationals, as their strong play throughout the week saw them finish round-robin play with identical 7-2 records.
The fourth berth was awarded following a win-and-you’re-in tiebreaker game between Team Anderson-Heide/Richardson and Team Daly/Violette. In that contest, Team Anderson-Heide/Richardson prevailed, winning in seven ends and booking their trip to Rock Creek in February.
“It was terrific to have these top teams competing at the Mixed Doubles Pre-Trials during the annual Members’ Assembly,” noted USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell. “There was little to separate all of these teams, and everyone at the venue enjoyed some extraordinary curling.”
Three more teams will be added to the Mixed Doubles Trials/Nationals field in the coming months. One team will earn a berth at the Colorado Cup, one team will earn a berth in the Last Chance Mixed Doubles Qualifier at CurlMesabi, and another berth will go to the team that is the top Year-to-Date points earner as of Jan. 14, 2025, in the World Curling Mixed Doubles Team Rankings. Find more details about the Mixed Doubles Trials/Nationals qualifying procedures here.
Final Round-Robin Standings—Mixed Doubles Pre-Trials
Anderson/Stopera (Sarah Anderson, Andrew Stopera): 8-1
Bear/Oldenburg (Madison Bear, Aidan Oldenburg): 7-2
Moores/Wheeler (Clare Moores, Lance Wheeler): 7-2
Anderson-Heide/Richardson (Taylor Anderson-Heide/Ben Richardson): 5-4
Daly/Violette (Lexi Daly, Luc Violette): 5-4
Persinger/Casper (Vicky Persinger, Daniel Casper): 4-5
Strouse/Fenner (Delaney Strouse, Mark Fenner): 4-5
Rhyme/Smith (Kim Rhyme, Jason Smith): 3-6
Farrell/Thurston (Cora Farrell, Coleman Thurston): 1-8
O’Hara/Strouse (Anne O’Hara, Sam Strouse): 1-8
Learn more about this event and Qualifying Procedures for all USA Curling championships here.
QUALIFIED TEAMS:
About USA Curling
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA Curling is the National Governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling in the United States. The mission of USA Curling is to grow, strengthen, and advocate for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of curling in the United States by prioritizing accessibility and programmatic development from grassroots to podium. USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), Rock Solid Productions, Jet Ice, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling is a proud member of the World Curling Federation and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. To learn more, visit usacurling.org.
