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U.S. Wheelchair Curling Team to be Selected This Month for 2008 World Championship
// USA Curling
// November 5, 2007
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Paralympian Augusto Perez will be one of the 13 athletes looking to secure a spot on the U.S. team that will compete at the 2008 World Championships.
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STEVENS POINT, Wis. - Thirteen athletes will compete to be part of Team USA at the 2008 World Wheelchair Championship when the Utica Curling Club hosts the U.S. selection event this month in Whitesboro, N.Y.
This year's team selection will be based on individual tryouts on Nov. 23-25. Four athletes plus an alternate will be selected at this event to represent the U.S. at the World Wheelchair Championship Feb. 2-9 in Sursee, Switzerland. The U.S. has never finished higher than fifth place at the world wheelchair championship or Paralympic Winter Games (wheelchair curling was first added to the Paralympics in 2006).
Leading the field are four athletes with world experience: Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), James Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.) and Robert Prenoveau (Chittenango, N.Y.). Pierce, Perez and Joseph narrowly missed the playoffs at last year's world championship in Solleftea, Sweden, after losing a close tiebreaker competition.
Nine newcomers to the sport of wheelchair curling will be trying out and range in age from 17 to 59, some from non-traditional curling cities in California and Nevada.
The U.S. wheelchair program has been growing in numbers thanks in part to the Sitrin STARS program, wheelchair curling clinics and participation in veterans programs. USA Curling recently hired a national wheelchair curling outreach director and has a national wheelchair curling coach in place.
Games at the world wheelchair curling championship are six ends in length and no sweeping of the stone is allowed. Teams must consist of both men and women in order to be eligible.
Here is a look at the competing field of athletes, as well as their ages and hometowns:
Kevin Burnside, 17, Utica, N.Y.
Tammy Delano, 34, Rome, N.Y.
Roy Heathcoat, 42, Franklin, Wis.
Darwin Holmes, 40, Las Vegas, Nev.
James Joseph, 45, New Hartford, N.Y.
Jacqueline Kapinowski, 44, Point Pleasant, N.Y.
Patrick McDonald, 40, Orangevale, Calif.
Nick Newman, 17, Utica, N.Y.
Augusto Perez, 35, East Syracuse, N.Y.
James Pierce, 44, North Syracuse, N.Y.
John Powell, 59, Balch Springs, Texas
Robert Prenoveau, 42, Chittenango, N.Y.
Wayne Ross, 41, Scituate, Mass.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
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