St. Paul Cash

Team Potter is getting ready to hit the ice for our first major event of the curling season--the St. Paul Cash Spiel! The bonspiel is broken into seperate men's and women's events this year. We take the ice at 10:30 on Friday morning. You can watch us in person at the St. Paul Curling Club or online at http://www.stpaulcashspiel.org/ . Cheer loud!

Curling Clinic

Yesterday, Jamie and I teamed up with our two former Olympic team mates to do a little curling clinic for some new curlers—from beginner to 1-year curlers. It was a learning experience for us all in that we had never done a small group instruction before and it was fun to be able to share what we have learned with other curlers interested in the sport. We started out with some instruction and drills and then ended with a 3-end game pitting the 1-year team against the newbie team while we coached. The team with prior experience definitely had the upper hand and it showed in the score, but it was great fun. Plus we got to curl on the championship ice made for us in St. Paul because of the recent World Senior & Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, where, if you had the chance to watch some of the games, you saw some excellent world-class curling.

Looking towards 2011-2012

Team Potter is excited to be returning to the ice for the 2011/2012 season.

Where have we been?

The team took a season break in 2009/2010. The following year, Jamie and I formed a team with a couple of ladies entering the womens curling scene while Laura and Jackie were on maternity leave. Our new one year lineup competed at the 2011 USA Curling National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota where we came out in the top 4 of the round-robin, beat the defending champions in the 3-4 page playoff and ultimately finished 3rd. It was a great season! Jamie and my decision to compete was last-minute and I'm glad we went for it. I don't know if I've ever put more concentration in to such a short period of practice time prior to the U.S. Nationals playoffs, but I learned a lot about how far quality practice can get you and how important it is to have the right kind of chemistry and communication with your teammates both on and off the ice.

For this next season, it's the four of us again but we're changing it up a bit. Laura will be playing as alternate and so we're bringing in Steph Sambor to play front-end. Welcome to Team Potter Steph!

Plans are beginning to take shape for next year's practice and bonspiel schedule. We are looking to step it up a notch and have quite a few games under our belts by the time nationals rolls around. We'll be sure to post our schedule on our blog as we finalize it.

Mixed Nationals in Medford!

Starting Sunday, March 22, I'll be curling with Ryan, Kroy Nernberger, and Becca Wood at the Mixed Nationals in Medford.  It would be great to have a house full of fans cheering on the home team!  Email us at wisconsin@usacurl.org.  We'd love to hear from you!  Also, you can follow the action at usacurl.org/curlingrocks/.  Thanks for all your support!

Thank you!

My team is amazing! I can't be too upset by how the Trials turned out. It wasn't our best performance of the year and that's fine. I have never had so much fun curling with any other team and I am grateful for the time that I got to spend with my team this year. From summer teamwork sessions in Medford to Mixed Doubles in a beautiful cabin in Two Harbors, I couldn't have put anything more into this team or expected them to give me any more than they did. Thank you all!!

And the support couldn't have been better! I have five new families: the Potters, Haskells, Lemkes, Johnsons and the Meullers! Thanks:)

Post-season wrap-up

A tough week in Denver...but no regrets, because we tried our hardest. If we look at the silver lining, we're still a young team and there will be another chance in 4 years. Plus, we can spend time with our friends and family who have sort of been put on hold this past season. And, my hubby and I are getting a puppy in a few weeks and I'm excited to watch it grow up!

I have to say thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors for making this one of the best seasons ever! Without your support, it would have been a struggle to get to the bonspiels and practice and prepare as much as we did.

Also, a huge THANKS to our fans, friends, and family who were always with us, even those of you who are just becoming fans of curling. It's been great to read the posts and emails that you have sent and to hear by word-of-mouth the encouraging words during our season. You all rock! :)

We hope to continue to update this blog even though we're heading into the off-season now. We'll have pics to post soon of the trials and summertime fun!

Olympic Trials Links

Links for fans coming to Denver:
Schedule of Events
Discounts on things to do in Denver

Links for fans at home:
Watch the live scoring
Watch the semi's and finals on NBC Universal Sports
Email the teams at the trials

Practice in St. Paul!

We just had a team practice at the St. Paul Curling Club on Sunday morning, getting ready for the upcoming U.S. Nationals/Olympic Trials in Denver, Colorado. Both Jackie and her husband Ryan had to drive a 4 hour trip from Madison, Wisconsin. Where they won their Wisconsin Mixed State Playdowns on Saturday! Congrats! Our Coach Dex had us throw lots of rocks with some drills and then we ended our practice with a short game against the 2009 State Club Champions.

After a few hours of practice, we went to have a late lunch at the restaurant Ingredients, which is located in White Bear Lake (my hometown!). We were lucky to have been invited to dinner at Ingredients, the owner is one of our sponsors and his son is a professional chef there. We had an excellent time, we had both great food and service! I would definitely recommend to anyone, especially now since Valentine's Day is coming up-- it's the perfect place to take your sweetheart to dinner...hint hint.

Team Practice in Medford

This past Saturday we had a practice day in Medford fine tuning for Colorado! We ended with a practice game against my husband Ryan, my dad Jeff, Craig Amundson, and Tommy Gengler. We lost 2-1 in the practice game. Nice job, guys! We'll be ready for you next time! This coming Sunday, Cassie, Jamie, Laura, and Dex are going to be practicing in St. Paul while I am curling at the Wisconsin Mixed State Playdowns in Poynette. If we win, its off to Nationals in Medford! At least we'll save some on the travel expenses!

Thanks to everyone whose been checking out our blog. We really appreciate your support as we prepare for the Trials!

Less than a month!

Wow! Times flies when you're busy. Less than a month!

Don't forget to cheer on the men's and women's teams this weekend at the challenge rounds in Bismarck, ND (men) and Green Bay, WI (women).

Winni and Team

Just got back from Winnipeg last night. It was a great weekend filled with good food, good curling (2-2), an interview, and lots of driving. What a long drive! Unfortunately, I'm the only one who had to work today, so it was tough getting out of bed. I just wanted to sleep in. The weather is much warmer today at 18 degrees above. Never thought I'd say 18 was warm, but it's a big difference from last week!

So we started and ended our pre-season in Winnipeg and now we're headed to the U.S. Olympic curling trials in Broomfield, Colorado!

Midwest Regional Qualifiers

Well, we made it to Green Bay and back, going 5-0 and finishing at the top of the field last weekend! Thanks to everyone for all the support, messages, emails, and fans who were watching the results online and for all those who made the trip to the GBCC. Our team had a new experience– sharing a house while we competed– which gave us plenty of time to relax and allowed us to show off our cooking skills to each other. But nothing compared to the awesome lasagna made by Debbie! We're already compiling a grocery list for Broomfield :) Laura has the duty of dividing the foods by grocery section and having us each take a list and looking for those items on our lists. I thought I made good time until the announcement was made over the entire grocery store for "Team Potter please report to lane 5!" Who knew the dairy would be in one of the first corners of the store instead of one of the last corners? I told Laura we needed to get a map of the grocery store next time :)

We are all really excited to be going to Broomfield for the U.S. Olympic Trials. We hope to see many of our fans and supporters there. I know several are planning their vacations right now and we hope to see the rest of you via email and messages during the competition. Until then, we'll keep you updated on the MCA Bonspiel coming up this weekend!

Midwest Regional Playdowns are Finally Here!!

Hello everyone!  Tonight we're heading out for Regionals in Green Bay.  You can watch the game scoreboard through the USA curling website at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/

When you get to the site there is a Scoreboard link on the right side to the "Women's Midwest Qualifier" and you can see our scores from there!

Thank you all for your support!!  It's great to know you're all with us!

Extra curricular activities while in Eveleth!

While staying at the Potter's we had fun in the snow. We may pick up semi-professional sledding!

Super One Shootout in Eveleth

Things are shaping up nicely in the Super One Shootout!  We had a great first set of games to qualify through the A bracket.  Tomorrow, Sunday, we'll start the playoff games at 9 am.  Hopefully we'll play at noon and 3 pm as well.

Thanks for all your support!  Good curling!

Brrrrrr!

It's freezing here in the Twin Cities. -9 degrees with more snow on the way! After I got home last night, I bundled up and shoveled the sidewalk which took about 20 minutes. Then I lifted weights, but I was already tired from lifting and pushing snow around. Ah MN :)

Mixed Doubles Recap

What a fun weekend! Corrie and I were 5-2 after the round-robin and finished in 3rd place in pool B, just one game shy of making the semi-finals. Laura and Nate G. finished the same as us in the A pool with a 5-2 record. Jackie and Ryan finished 6-1 and were #1 in the A pool, with Jamie and Nate H. finishing #2. Both teams advanced to the semi's and had great games there. Congrats to Team Clark, who won the Mixed Doubles competition and congrats also to my sister and husband for playing a great final against them.

The weekend was made especially fun in the down-time by staying at the Larsmont Cottages just outside of Two Harbors. The 4 of us and our teammates rented a 3-bedroom cottage that included 3 1/2 baths, a gourmet kitchen, living room with TV, DVD, and stereo, dining room, jacuzzi tubs in the bathrooms, outdoor grill and a wonderful location next to Lake Superior. We cooked up some delicious meals including chili, fajitas, spaghetti, and venison along with baking cookies. It was a great weekend to work on our draws and finesse shots without relying on too much sweeping.

Mixed Doublers Beware!

Ry and I are heading down to the club tomorrow night and Tuesday lunch hour to prepare to take on H2H and Px2. Laura, I was thinking that if you had your heart set on a nickname, you could be Team GRRR! Ryan and I--Nicknames? We don't need no stinking nicknames! Really though, we're looking forward to sharing food and bathrooms with the people we will call our competition, for a weekend anyway!

For everyone watching online at home, email us at teamlemke@usacurl.org. We will love to hear from you! It goes from Thursday until Sunday, so a little support would be great for the long weekend. Have a good one!

Medford Silver Dollar

This weekend was somewhat successful. My team (Dad, Kent Nernberger, Charlie Tlusty, and myself) made it to the finals of the third event where we lost to the best senior men's team in the country:) To get there, we beat two teams from Centerville and lost to my father-in-law. It was a very fun weekend full of good food, old friends, and great fans. I have to admit though, I am definitely looking forward to getting back into my lead position next weekend in Ontario! I can't wait to let Jamie and Cassie make the pressure shots and sweep my little heart out!!

We're halfway there!

Wednesday afternoons are nice because I feel like I'm over the hump of the week and heading towards the weekend. Anybody have any exciting plans? I'm hoping to catch the new James Bond, "Quantum of Solace" and visit the hunting shack.