 Cora Farrell and Coleman Thurston take down three USA Curling High-Performance teams en-route to the surprise title. By: Frank Roch It has been a tough week in the USA Curling universe, which was certainly not lost on the top American mixed doubles teams that gathered in Lafayette, Colorado, for the Colorado Curling Cup. Among the teams participating in Lafayette were 5 of the seven mixed doubles teams in the USA Curling High-Performance Program, highlighted by two-time Olympic duo Becca and Matt Hamilton. As one might expect, the more experienced teams in the field got off to a solid start, with the team of Aileen Geving and John Shuster joining Hamilton/Hamilton as the A qualifiers. The B Qualifier was similar, with the teams of Sarah Andersson/Andrew Stopera and Vicky Persinger/Chris Plys moving on to the playoffs along with the team of Delaney Strouse/Danny Casper. The latter is the only mixed doubles team in USA Curling's Under 25 high-performance program. The playoff field in Lafayette was rounded out by the teams of Cora Farrell/Coleman Thurston, Kirstin Nickel/Gabriel Nickel and Sydney Mulaney/Chase Sinnett. The quarterfinal produced two upsets as the team of Farrell/Thurston defeated Hamilton/Hamilton while Strouse/Casper defeated Persinger/Plys. The other two quarterfinal winners were the teams of Geving/Shuster and Anderson/Stopera. The upsets kept coming in the semifinals as Strouse/Casper jumped out to a 6-1 lead over Geving/Shuster and held on for a 6-3 victory and a spot in the final. Joining the young duo in the final was the team of Farrell/Thurston, who earned their place in the championship game by upsetting the 2021 U.S. champions, Persinger/Plys. The championship final looked like it might be a blow-our early on, but, as we have learned in mixed doubles, first impressions do not always provide any true insight into how a game will end. In this case, Strouse/Casper took a 4-0 lead in the first end only to see Farrell/Thurston score 10 points over the next five ends to earn a 10-5 win. The victory in the championship final gave Farrell/Thurston a sweep of three High-Performance Program teams in the playoffs and certainly put this team on the radar of the coaching staff at USA Curling. Farrell is currently a member of the USA Curling developmental pool of players, while Thurston is part of the USA Curling junior program. |
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