2012 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification

Main article: 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship

Qualification for the 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship took place in one round in January in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The number of entrants to the national championships was cut down to ten teams through a challenge round.

Qualification System

Teams qualified for the women's nationals either by qualifying automatically as one of the top four teams on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit or by qualifying through the challenge round. The four teams that qualified automatically to the championships, an increase from last year's two teams qualified through the Order of Merit, were chosen based on the Order of Merit upon the conclusion of the Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel. ^[1] This year, the teams are those skipped by Erika Brown, Rebecca Hamilton, Patti Lank, and Alexandra Carlson. ^[2] The other six spots in the nationals will be awarded through competition in the challenge round. ^[1]

The challenge round was held with the double knockout provision in place. The double knockout provision states that a team is eliminated from qualifying for the nationals if the team has at least two losses in their win-loss record. If there are teams with less than two losses, they will play each other until the number of teams still able to qualify matches the number of qualification spots available.

Challenge round

Since there are more than ten teams registered to the nationals this year, the teams that did not qualify directly for the nationals competed to earn one of six remaining spots in the nationals through the challenge round, which was held from January 19 to 22 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. ^[1] The challenge round was held in a knockout format, as decided by the organizing committee. ^[3] The teams that advanced from the challenge round were those skipped by Maureen Stolt, Cassandra Potter, Janice Langanke, Allison Pottinger, Aileen Sormunen, Kimberly Wapola.

Challenge round

The challenge round was held from January 19 to 22 at the Marshfield Curling Club in Marshfield, Wisconsin. It was held in a triple knockout format. ^[3] Teams skipped by Maureen Stolt, Cassandra Potter, Janice Langanke, Allison Pottinger, Aileen Sormunen, and Kimberly Wapola advanced to the Nationals.

Participating teams

The following is a list of all teams registered to participate in the regional qualifiers. ^[4]

Key
	Teams Directly to Nationals [2]

Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Alternate	Locale
Erika Brown	Debbie McCormick	Jessica Schultz	Ann Swisshelm		Madison, Wisconsin
Alexandra Carlson	Monica Walker	Kendall Moulton	Jordan Moulton		St. Paul, Minnesota
Cristin Clark	Emily Good	Elle LeBeau	Sharon Vukich		Seattle, Washington
Brigid Ellig	Jennifer Westhagen	Heather Van Sistine	Brittany Falk		St. Paul, Minnesota
Rebecca Hamilton	Tara Peterson	Karlie Koenig	Sophie Brorson		Madison, Wisconsin
Shelly Kinney	Amy Lou Anderson	Elyse Sorenson	Julie Smith		St. Paul, Minnesota
Janice Langanke	Ashley Lawreck	Nina Reiniger	Nicole Arsenault		Middletown, New Jersey
Patti Lank	Nina Spatola	Caitlin Maroldo	Molly Bonner	Mackenzie Lank	Lewiston, New York
Cassandra Potter	Jamie Haskell	Jaclyn Lemke	Stephanie Sambor		St. Paul, Minnesota
Allison Pottinger	Nicole Joraanstad	Natalie Nicholson	Tabitha Peterson		St. Paul, Minnesota
Nicole Reiser	Michelle Wagner	Gabrielle Coleman	Ann Drummie		Mandan, North Dakota
Aileen Sormunen	Courtney George	Amanda McLean	Miranda Solem		Duluth, Minnesota
Maureen Stolt	Megan Pond	Emilia Juocys	Sherri Schummer		St. Paul, Minnesota
Amanda Tucker	Randi Schieber	Alex Schieber	Rachel Tharalson		St. Thomas, North Dakota
Kimberly Wapola	Victoria Forconi	Carol Strojny	Sharon Wright	Connie Kupferschmidt	St. Paul, Minnesota

Knockout Brackets

A Event

	First Knockout					Semifinals					Qualifier 1
	Janice Langanke		6
	Kimberly Wapola		3			Janice Langanke		6
						Allison Pottinger		5
											Janice Langanke		5
											Maureen Stolt		7
						Maureen Stolt		5
						Cristin Clark		2

First Knockout

Semifinals

Qualifier 2

Shelly Kinney

9

Amanda Tucker

8

Shelly Kinney

2

Cassandra Potter

9

Cassandra Potter

10

Nicole Reiser

W

Aileen Sormunen

7

Brigid Ellig

L

Nicole Reiser

8

Aileen Sormunen

9

B Event

	Second Knockout					Semifinals					Qualifier 3
	Kimberly Wapola		8
	Nicole Reiser		6			Kimberly Wapola		8
						Shelly Kinney		7
											Kimberly Wapola		4
											Janice Langanke		11

	Second Knockout					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Qualifier 4
	Amanda Tucker		13
	Brigid Ellig		4			Amanda Tucker		7
						Cristin Clark		1
											Amanda Tucker		3
											Allison Pottinger		7
																Allison Pottinger		7
																Aileen Sormunen		3

C Event

	Third Knockout					Qualifier 5
	Shelly Kinney		10
	Cristin Clark		6			Shelly Kinney		5
						Aileen Sormunen		11

	Third Knockout					Semifinals					Qualifier 6
	Nicole Reiser		7
	Brigid Ellig		8			Brigid Ellig		9
						Amanda Tucker		4
											Brigid Ellig		8
											Kimberly Wapola		10

Knockout results

Draw 1

Friday, January 20, 2:00 pm

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Janice Langanke	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	1	0	X	6
Kimberly Wapola	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	3

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Shelly Kinney	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	2	0	9
Amanda Tucker	0	0	2	0	5	0	0	0	0	1	8

Sheet 3	Final
Nicole Reiser	W
Brigid Ellig	L

Team Ellig was unable to field four registered players to start the competition, by rule an automatic forfeit.

Draw 2

Friday, January 20, 7:00 pm

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Maureen Stolt	0	0	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	X	5
Cristin Clark	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	X	2

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Janice Langanke	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	1	0	1	6
Allison Pottinger	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	5

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Shelly Kinney	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	X	X	X	2
Cassandra Potter	0	0	5	1	0	1	2	X	X	X	9

Draw 3

Saturday, January 21, 9:00 am

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Janice Langanke	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	5
Maureen Stolt	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	2	7

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Nicole Reiser	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	8
Aileen Sormunen	0	3	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	9

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Amanda Tucker	2	3	0	3	0	2	0	1	2	X	13
Brigid Ellig	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	X	4

Draw 4

Saturday, January 21, 2:00 pm

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Cassandra Potter	2	1	0	2	0	0	4	0	1	X	10
Aileen Sormunen	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	2	0	X	7

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Amanda Tucker	0	1	0	1	2	1	2	X	X	X	7
Cristin Clark	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	X	X	X	1

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Kimberly Wapola	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	3	2	8
Nicole Reiser	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	6

Draw 5

Saturday, January 21, 7:00 pm

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Nicole Reiser	1	1	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	7
Brigid Ellig	0	0	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	8

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Kimberly Wapola	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	4	8
Shelly Kinney	1	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	7

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Amanda Tucker	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	X	3
Allison Pottinger	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	2	1	X	7

Draw 6

Sunday, January 22, 8:00 am

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Kimberly Wapola	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	X	X	X	4
Janice Langanke	0	2	1	0	6	0	2	X	X	X	11

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Allison Pottinger	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	X	7
Aileen Sormunen	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	3

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Shelly Kinney	0	3	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	2	10
Cristin Clark	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	6

Draw 7

Sunday, January 22, 1:00 pm

Sheet 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Shelly Kinney	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	X	X	X	5
Aileen Sormunen	1	0	3	0	4	0	3	X	X	X	11

Sheet 3	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Brigid Ellig	0	3	0	0	1	2	2	0	1	X	9
Amanda Tucker	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	X	4

Draw 8

Sunday, January 22, 6:00 pm

Sheet 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Brigid Ellig	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	2	0	8
Kimberly Wapola	0	1	3	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	10

References

1. United States Curling Association. "2011–12 USCA Championships Rules and Procedures" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
2. "Qualified teams, 2012 Nationals". USA Curling.
3. "Berth allocations announced for Men's qualifiers; schedules set". United States Curling Association.
4. "Men's and Women's Playdown Teams" (PDF). 15 November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.