Visiting Scotland for curling and more

As Rebecca and her teammates competed in the World Mixed Curling competition in Aberdeen, Scotland, eight members of her family traveled to cheer on Team USA and see other sights in the British Isles.

Rebecca's parents, Doug and Lisa, toured other Scottish cities before and after the competition, as did her Aunt Cathy and cousins Chrstopher and Stephanie. Her Aunt Julie and Uncle Dan combined a week in Aberdeen with four days in Dublin, Ireland. And sister Liz visited London, joined the group in Aberdeen and then toured extensively in Northern Scotland.

The Team USA foursome of Caitlin, Jeff, Rebecca and Jason were proud and happy to represent the Rochester Curling Club and Curling USA. On the ice at Curl Aberdeen, they enjoyed the competition and camraderie that characterize the sport. The team played hard and smart, ending with a won-loss record of 3-4 in the round-robin, short of the cutoff for the playoffs. In a Facebook post, Rebecca thanked "the most amazing teammates in the world. I can't think of better folks on and off the ice to have shared this experience with."

 

The trip provided a great opportunity for family members to get together as spectators and tourists. Just a few highlights: 

Dan, Julie, Cathy, Chris and Steph went on a small-group tour of the Highlands, including a boat ride on Loch Ness. 

Urquhart Castle alongside Loch Ness

On a rare sunny day, Doug, Lisa, Dan and Julie took a long walk through downtown Aberdeen to the beach on the North Sea. 

Castlegate Square in downtown Aberdeen

Touching the North Sea

And the whole family group joined Rebecca's teammates and their families and friends to watch Aberdeen Football Club defeat Partick Thistle in a Scottish League Cup quarter-final match.

Pre-game dinner

We had great seats!

Individually and together, clan members packed their trips with experiences all over the Scottish landscape - too many to list here. A big collection of photos taken by various family members is being compiled in a Google album.

Click here for a visual travelogue of the trip!

Rebecca to curl at world tournament in Scotland

Rebecca and her teammates from the Rochester Curling Club will compete against teams from around the globe in the World Mixed Curling Championship tournament this October in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Rebecca's parents, Doug and Lisa; her Aunt Julie and Uncle Dan; her Aunt Cathy and cousins Christopher and Stephanie all are planning trips to Scotland to cheer her on and do some sightseeing on the side.

As previously reported here, the team won USA Curling's 2022 U.S. Mixed National Championship, held on the Rochester club's ice in April. The team has launched a GoFundMe campaign, "asking friends, family, and curling enthusiasts for a small donation" to help defray travel expenses. Anyone interested can donate here.

Meanwhile, Rebecca earlier this year started a new job in a new field, literally: a flower farm. She is now part of the small crew growing and harvesting blooms at Trademarks Flower Farm in Clifton Springs, N.Y. 

Rebecca says she's happy to have made the switch from an office/lab job to working outdoors in nature. When not on the job, she can be found tending her own home garden, leading hiking trips for RIT students as an adjunct instructor - and, of course, curling.

Gold medal for Rebecca's team in national curling tournament

Winning a national championship in your own house is about as good as it gets in any sport. That's what the team from Rochester Curling Club accomplished Saturday in USA Curling's 2022 U.S. Mixed National Championship.

With Rebecca playing the role of Second, the team won the gold-medal game in thrilling fashion. The game was tied 6-6 going into the final end. Rochester's skip, Caitlin (at left in photo), sent her last stone toward the center of the rings. Rebecca and teammate Jason (at right) swept hard, joined by vice-skip Jeff (2nd from left), to bring it to rest right on the button (the bulls-eye of the scoring area).

Split-screen view of the finale: At left, Caitlin begins celebrating. At right, Rebecca lifts her broom after sweeping the stone to the button.

VIDEO: Watch the final shot!

Rebecca's parents, Lisa and Doug, attended the competition and joined in the celebration.

The victory earned the team the berth to represent the United States at the 2022 World Mixed Curling Championship - date and location yet to be determined.

The same Rochester team took the silver medal at the last pre-covid Mixed Nationals, held in Colorado in 2019.

MORE: Read USA Curling's press release here!

Climbing the walls: Christine, Jamie enjoy bouldering

Christine and Jamie have found their new favorite way of getting exercise: Bouldering. 

The two have been trying out the rock walls at a few gyms in the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area, enjoying the combination of physical workout and problem-solving. The color-coded hand- and foot-holds are arranged to create "problems" that must be "solved" to reach the top of the wall. 

Once at the top, the climber can use any route down - or simply drop to the padded mats on the floor. As Christine noted, one of the first things to learn about bouldering is how to fall correctly. 

Rebecca a silver medalist in curling Mixed Nationals

A little more than a month after taking part in USA Curling's Women's National Championship tournament, Rebecca was on the ice again in the Mixed National Championship competition, held March 24-30 in Denver.

Rebecca played second position on a Rochester-based team that took the silver medal. It was one of two teams from the Grand National Curling Club, an association of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic clubs, that qualified for the tournament. The other was based at Rebecca's former home club in Potomac, Md.

The two teams finished the round-robin with 7-2 records, won their semi-final games and met in the final, where the Maryland-based team took the gold.

Rebecca's team places 4th in curling nationals

Rebecca in action on Tuesday

Team Senneker battled to the last rock once again on Friday in the tiebreaker round of the USA Curling National Championships, but Team Christensen took the 9-8 win to move on to the next round of the playoffs.

"We had one heck of a week at 2019 USA Curling National Championships in Kalamazoo," Team Senneker posted on its Facebook page. "We took 4th place and had a 5-3 record overall. That is awesome for a first-year team."

"What a team, what a week," Rebecca posted. "Disappointed with the outcome of our final game but still really, really proud of how far we've come this season."

Big win keeps Rebecca's team in contention

UPDATED 2/14: Team Senneker won another squeaker on Thursday, defeating Team Rhyme 6-5 in an extra end to advance to a tiebreaker against Team Christensen, to be played Friday at 1 p.m. The winner will advance to the semi-final.

Back-to-back wins Tuesday night and Wednesday gave Rebecca and Team Senneker a 4-2 record and a tie for third place going into the last day of round-robin competition at the USA Curling National Championships.

Tuesday's game against Team Dubberstein was featured on the live webcast on the 12th End Sports Network. Viewers were treated to a match that came down to the final rock. After falling behind 6-3 after seven ends, Team Senneker came back with one in the eighth, stole two in the ninth to tie and stole another two in the final end for the win.

On Wednesday, Rebecca and her teammates faced off against Team Sinclair - which had gone undefeated in its first five matches. The line score tells the tale of a see-saw battle, with another strong finish by Team Senneker.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Sinclair	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	4
Senneker	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	2	1	6

On Thursday, Team Senneker will be playing for the chance to be one of the three teams that advance to the finals. Its 11 a.m. game against Team Rhyme is slated to be featured on the webcast. If Team Senneker wins, and the other third-place team wins as well, those two will meet in a tiebreaker.

Footnote: A few hours after Wednesday's game, Rebecca joined Joe, a fellow Rochester Curling Club member, in the 12th End Sports Network's broadcast booth to provide commentary on the evening's featured game in the men's competition.

Rebecca's team off to a 2-1 start at Nationals

In this screen-grab from video, Rebecca (No. 8, left foreground) and her teammates celebrate as the final rock thrown by their skip settles right on the button to give them a 1-point victory in their third match at the USA Curling National Championships.

That put Team Senneker in a four-way tie for second after three of the seven rounds in the round-robin portion of the tournament. They lost the first game to Team Roth (which represented the USA in the 2018 Olympics) before winning the next two.

You can keep up with the scores and standings on USA Curling's website. And you can follow Team Senneker on Facebook. On Tuesday evening (Feb. 12), their match against Team Dubberstein is slated to be the featured game on the tournament's live webcast.

Rebecca & teammates compete for national title

The USA Curling National Championships are getting under way in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Rebecca will be competing with her team, led by skip Stephanie Senneker. Their first match is Sunday at noon.

Certain games will be live-streamed on the web, including Team Senneker's match on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Find the webstream here.

For more info, see our previous article or head to the tournament's website.

Rebecca heads to 2019 national curling tournament

Rebecca continues her curling career as a member of Team Senneker - which is headed for the 2019 USA Curling National Championships.

The team qualified for Nationals based on points accumulated in matches this fall. Three other women's teams and five men's teams likewise qualified on points. The top-ranked teams are those headed by John Shuster, skip of the 2018 Olympic Men's Gold Medal team, and by Nina Roth, skip of the U.S. 2018 Olympic Women's team.

Another four men's and three women's berths at Nationals will be determined this month in USA Curling's Challenge Rounds in Minnesota. A junior men's and a junior women's team will be selected to bring the field to 10 men's and 8 women's teams.

The 2019 National Championships will be held Feb. 9-16 in Kalamazoo, Mich. We'll try to keep you updated on Team Senneker's progress!

Rebecca has played in multiple national tournaments. Last year, she was on a team that finished fourth in the Women's Nationals, as well as a team that made it to the final round of the Mixed Nationals. You can find stories from past years by checking our Sports archives.

New York finishes 4th in curling Mixed Nationals

After advancing to the playoffs in the USA Curling Mixed Nationals Championship competition, Rebecca's Rochester, N.Y.-based team ran up against stiff competition and finished in fourth place.

"Pretty darn good week at the Mixed Nationals, but unfortunately Team NY finished just out of the medals," Rebecca posted. "So lucky to have amazingly supportive and fun teammates, and thrilled my parents came out for the playoff weekend!"

Lisa and Doug surprised Rebecca by flying in to see the final games at Lakeville, Minn., just outside Minneapolis.

The New York team placed third in the round-robin portion of the tournament, with a 6-3 record. As it happened, it had to face the top two teams in the playoffs. The second-seed team, from North Dakota, prevailed over New York in the semifinal, while top seed Michigan was upset by the fourth-place team, from Seattle, Washington. That pitted New York against Michigan in the game for third place, and Michigan won the bronze medals.

March was a busy curling month for Rebecca, who was also a member of a women's team in the USA Curling 2018 Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D. Her team finished fourth in that tournament -- and Rebecca was chosen the winner of the Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award. The award is "presented annually at the National Championships to one male and one female athlete who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers," according to USA Curling.

Rebecca's team reaches finals at Mixed Nationals

Rochester, N.Y.-based Team Maroldo, with Rebecca playing second position, has won a berth in the playoff round at the USA Curling Mixed Nationals Championship in Lakeville, Minn.

The team finished third in the round-robin portion of the tournament, with a record of 6-3.

The semi-final games take place Friday evening (3/30) at 7 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT. Rebecca's team, representing New York, plays North Dakota, with the winner advancing to the final "gold medal" game Saturday at 1 p.m. CDT/2 p.m. EDT. The losing teams from the semi-finals will play at the same time Saturday for bronze.

You can follow the results here - and watch live video here.

It's been a busy curling month for Rebecca, who was also a member of a women's team in the USA Curling 2018 Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D. Her team finished fourth in that tournament -- and Rebecca was chosen the winner of the Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award. The award is "presented annually at the National Championships to one male and one female athlete who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers," according to USA Curling.

Rebecca anchors her team at Nationals (Updated 3/11)

In this picture captured from a live webcast, Rebecca takes a shot early in her team's first match at the USA Curling 2018 Nationals competition in Fargo, N.D. Playing as "fourth" for Team Rhyme, Rebecca took her team's final two shots in each end of play.

After an early string of losses, Team Rhyme came back with four wins in a row, ending the round-robin portion of the tournament with a winning record (4-3). That was good for fourth place, while the top three of the eight teams went on to the finals.

"Fourth place, winning record - no playoff spot, but still proud," Rebecca wrote. "Thanks, Fargo!"

Next up for Rebecca: The Mixed National Championships, as part of Team Maroldo, one of ten teams competing in the tournament that starts March 23 in Lakeville, Minn.

In 2013, Rebecca was on the championship team at that annual event.

Rebecca to compete in 2018 curling nationals

Curling is enjoying a surge of popularity following the Olympic Winter Games, where the U.S. men's team won its first-ever gold medal in the sport.

Next week, the focus will be on the USA Curling 2018 National Championships.

Rebecca will be there, as a member of one of eight teams competing for the women's championship in the tournament, March 3-10 in Fargo, N.D.

Team Rhyme - Rebecca, Kim from Minneapolis, Katie from Brown Deer, Wis. and Amy from Blaine, Minn. - will start round-robin play on Sunday, March 4, playing one or two games a day through Wednesday in hopes of making the playoffs Friday and Saturday. (Updates and results will be posted on the USA Curling website, which will also have live webstreams of at least some of the games.)

Rebecca previously competed at Nationals in 2014 and 2016, as well as Junior Women's Championships in 2009, 2011 and 2012 - and was on the team that won the Mixed National Championships in 2013. She'll be returning to the Mixed Nationals this year as part of Team Maroldo, which won a regional championship in January. That competition was held on Rebecca's home ice at the Rochester Curling Club.

The Mixed Nationals competition takes place March 23-31 in Lakeville, Minn.

Correction: An earlier version of this post said the Olympic men's team would also be in the tournament. Although the USA Curling website lists it among the teams that qualified, Rebecca informs us it will not be competing in Fargo.

Quintuple take-out: Rebecca shows how it's done

You don't have to be an expert on curling to be impressed by the shot that Rebecca managed recently in a match at the Rochester Curling Club.

In this video, jump to about the 46 minute mark and you'll see the opposing team place a rock close to the center of the house (the concentric circles forming a sort of bulls-eye). It puts that team in position to score several points. After studying the angles, Rebecca sends in her rock to the perfect spot, clearing out all five of the opponents' rocks.

Lisa posted this video on Facebook with the comment, "Proud mom moment. Way to go Rebecca."

Rebecca in national curling competition this week

Rebecca writes: "We're in FLORIDA for CURLING!"

Strange but true, the USA Curling national championships are being held this week in Jacksonville, Fla. And Rebecca is there as a member of "Team Meechai," one of seven teams competing for this year's women's title.

You can follow their progress at USA Curling's website. And you can watch live coverage online on TESN - where the schedule includes Rebecca's team vs. a Minnesota team on Monday at noon.

Rebecca on curling team headed to Nationals

Rebecca has been spending some recent weekends traveling to curling competitions with a team that's preparing for the USA Curling 2016 Women's National Championships, to be held in early February.

"Was in Minnesota this past weekend; Wisconsin the weekend prior. Will be in a different part of Minnesota the weekend after New Year's," Rebecca writes. "Racking up the frequent flyer miles this season."

This year's Nationals are in Jacksonville, Fla. - of all places! It's the first time a national curling event has been held in Florida.

Rebecca competed in the Junior Women's National Championships in 2009, 2011 and 2012, the Mixed National Championship in 2013 and the Women's Nationals in 2014. This year, she's joined another team that competed in last year's Women's Nationals. The skipper, Joyance (at left in photo), is based at the Ardsley, N.Y., curling club.

"It's a new team for me this season," Rebecca writes. "One of their players from last year is expecting her first child soon, so took the season off. We've been doing a few cashspiels (competitions with cash prizes) leading up to the Nationals in February."

Taking Dads out to the ballgame

Julie with Dad and Mom

Christine and Andy with Dad

Hugh and Dolores spent Father's Day weekend visiting daughter Julie and her family in New Jersey. They spent Saturday evening watching a Somerset Patriots baseball game, followed by a fireworks show.

This was the third time this same grouping has celebrated Father's Day this way - which means, of course, that it's become a Family Tradition.

Singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

It was a misty evening, but an incoming rainstorm held off until later that night. The Patriots won and the fireworks blazed through the haze.

Fireworks in the fog

New Year's celebration, winter-sports style

Liz and Rebecca spent the first afternoon of the new year cheering on their beloved Washington Capitals at the National Hockey League's Winter Classic.

Each year on or about New Year's Day, the league holds a regular-season game in an outdoor stadium. The 2015 game was held at National's Park, home of Washington's National League baseball team.

It turned out to be an exciting game, with a happy result for the home-team fans.

The Capitals went ahead 2-0 in the first period, but Chicago Blackhawks scored once in the first and once in the second. Then, with 12 seconds left in the game, the Capitals' Troy Brouwer scored the tiebreaker for a 3-2 victory.