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Don't fear the sweeper
Curling, a sport
for all ages, is
just a stone's
throw away
By Kathleen Manwaring
kmanwaring@barnstablepatriot.com
READY FOR THE ROCK - Bob Quegan, decked in yellow, waits on his
teammates to bring down the stone during the Wednesday League
at the Cape Cod Curling Club.
KATHLEEN MANWARING PHOTOS
READY TO SWEEP - Striking an
elegant pose on the ice at the
Cape CodCurlingClub,Bev Giliotti
awaits the stone's throw so she
can begin sweeping.
TAKING THE HELM - Barbara Enos of Centerville stands at the ready
in Skip position surrounded by already played stones.
ALL DECKED OUT - Mac Jones is in position as Skip at the Cape Cod Curling Club in Falmouth. His vivid
sweater is adorned with Curling memorabilia from years of play.
In the moments before
the Wednesday League took
to the ice at the Cape Cod
Curling Club in Falmouth,
a spirited debate broke out
among several players. At is-
sue was a question about the
finer points of some of the
rules of curling.
If this was any other sport,
the debate might have ended
with a brawl or at the very
least a good shouting match.
This,however, isnot any other
sport.
Since2002,whencurlingmade
its debut at the OlympicWinter
Games in Salt Lake City,it has
been an ever-growing sport.
Nowthat theUSAhastakenthe
bronze medal home from Italy,
its popularity is soaring.
The Cape Cod Curling Club
boasts membership of more
than 150 from young children
to retirees. Joe Cammarano
of West Barnstable has been a
club member for six years. He
appreciates the "every person"
aspect of curling.
"Youdon'thave to be 16years
old, sixfeet talland 265 pounds
to doit,"hesaid."It'sfor allages.
Even those whodiscoveritlater
in life can still participate."
Indeed, if ever there was a
sport designed to suit every
person of every age, curling
would be it. While it resembles
other popular activities-chess,
shuffleboard, bocce, croquet
- curling as a sport stands
alone.
Despiteitsrelative simplicity,
attempting to describe curl-
ing can be tricky. Basically, it
involves moving large granite
stones with handles from one
end of a long sheet of lightly
pebbled ice to another, similar
to shuffleboard and bocce.
Chess factors in when choos-
ingtheproper strategyfor plac-
ingthe stoneinthe target at the
far end of the sheet. At times
it becomes necessary to knock
other stones out of the way,
calling croquet to mind. None
of these explanations,however,
does thisinteresting sport jus-
tice. "Whenyoufirst start,itcan
seem overwhelming," said Bob
Enos of Centerville.
Itcandefinitelybeoverwhelm-
ing, especially when you begin
to consider allof the particulars
of curling. The player releasing
the stonemust do sobypushing
off from a hack, a rubber piece
imbedded in the ice, or using a
stickthat attachestothestone's
handle.How a stone isreleased
is called its delivery.
Once a stone has been re-
leased, the sweepers step in.
Their job is to warm the ice
enough to provide a little extra
glide for the stone. The right
amount of sweeping can mean
the difference between astone's
"goinghome"(hittingthecenter
of the target) or being "wasted"
(shooting past the mark).
Theluckyindividualincharge
of directing the release and
sweeping of the stone is the
Skip. It is up to the Skip to
choose where a stone should
move, or "curl." This can be a
weighty decision when facing
many stones.
As Bob'swife and teammate,
Barbara, explained, there are
many aspects to the sport:
"There is a cerebral aspect
because you need strategy to
place your stone. You need to
develop skillto deliver the rock,
and when you sweep it's very
vigorous.Youget a good aerobic
workout."
"There is also the social as-
pect of the game," said Bob.
"After each match, the winners
buythelosersadrink.The social
part ofitissoimportant because
you meet so many people and
become friends with so many
of them."
It is that level of sportsman-
ship that draws many people
into curling. "It is run entirely
on anhonor system,"saidPhilip
Baybutt of Cotuit."Ifyoumake
afoul,you're supposed to admit
it. Ninety-nine percent of the
time, a person does. That is
very appealing to those of us
who don't like that aspect of
sports today."
There isno doubt that Olym-
pic coverage of the sport has
increased public interest. To-
morrow there willbe a ground-
breaking at the Falmouth club
to celebrate theplanned expan-
sion of their facility. "The club
was designed to hold 150 curl-
ers,"saidmemberRussLemc'ke.
"A few weeks ago, we had an
open house where almost 300
people showed up."
Club members anticipate
steady growth at the club in
comingyears,especiallyasmore
people learn about the sport.
"I overheard a conversation
recently between construction
workers," said Baybutt. "They
were these big, burly guys talk-
ing about the Olympics. One
asked the other if he'd been
watchinghockey andhe saidno.
He'd been watching curling."
"That'showitis,"saidLemcke.
"If you like it, you love it."
For more information about the Cape
Cod Curling Club, visit www.capecod-
curling.org or call 508-540-2414.
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. .
. .M. .
BHS swimmers take
12th in Division 1
Small contingent
swims big
By David Curran
dcurran@barnstablepatriot.com
With just five swimmers,
the BHS girls took 12th
place
at the state Division 1 cham-
pionships at Wellesley College
Feb. 26.
"I'm extremely impressed
with the way they did," said
coach Sarah Newcomb.
"Twelfth in the state. I like
it."
Freshman Casey Ostrander
had the team'stop finish,third
place in the 50-yard freestyle
with a time of 25.16 seconds.
Junior Charlotte Stone fol-
lowed in 10th
place in 26.39.
Both times were personal
bests.
But Stone's 1:02.9 in the
100 butterfly, good for eighth
place, was even more impres-
sive.
"Charlotte,her 100 fly was
just amazing,"Newcomb said.
"She dropped like three sec-
t
onds from her best time."
Ostrander was eighth in
the 100 freestyle in 55.95
seconds.
Ostrander and Stone
teamed with junior Kelly
Ostrander and sophomore
Lizzy Wareham to take 11th
placein the 200 medleyrelay in
2:01.84, while the Ostranders
and Stone joined forces with
sophomore LindseyBaldinito
take ll"1 in the 400 freestyle
relay in a season-best 3:54.47.
Baldini'ssplit of 58.93 seconds
for her leg was a personal
best.
Baldini also had a personal-
best 5:56.09 inthe 500 freestyle
and Kelly Ostrander 's 1:16.73
in the 100 breaststroke was
her second best time of the
season.
Newcomb said the teams
that finished ahead of
Barnstable had substantially
larger contingents.
"We only had four girls swim
inindividualevents,"she said.
"How we did with just five
swimmers was great."
1
Burke, Doherty looking forward to spring
BHS' top
tracksters finish
season at state
meet
By David Curran
dcurran@bamstablepatriot.com
Melissa Doherty finished
ninth in the shot put and
Mike Burke was 14th in the
55-meter hurdles at the All-
State indoor track champi-
onships at the Reggie Lewis
Track & Athletic Center in
Roxbury on Feb. 24.
The two seniors were the
only members of the BHS
team to advance to the
state meet.
"It was pretty cool being
there for the first time,"
Burke said.
Both said they could
have done better. Doherty's
32-foot-10.75-inch toss
wasn't up to the personal-
best 35-foot-8.5-incher she
mustered at the Old Colony
League championships Feb.
6, and Burke's 8.19 seconds
was off the school-record
8.02 he posted at the state
Division 1meet Feb. 18.
Doherty said she turned
an ankle a couple of weeks
before the all-state meet
and hadn't thrown as well
since, and that she didn't
feel fully warmed up.
"A bunch of small things
that all came together,"
she said. "It just wasn't my
day."
"I hit the second hurdle
and that slowed me down a
lot," said Burke. "I still had
a good run, it was my third
best time of the season, but
hitting the second hurdle
I didn't have enough time
to recover."
But if he was going to hit
a hurdle, he was happy it
didn't happen at the divi-
sion meet, when he made
the finals and finished
fourth, earning four points
in the meet.
"I'd never seen any of our
teams get points at a big
meet. It was kind of cool
for me to be the first one
to do that that I'd seen,"
he said, later adding, "I set
the school record when it
counted."
Both Burke and Doherty
said they're looking forward
to spring track.
"Most of the kids that
did winter track are com-
ing back, so we should have
a pretty good team," said
Burke, who will run the 110
hurdles, the 200, the long
jump and the 4x100 relay.
It's the first time a lot of
kids have done that, the
winter-spring combo."
Doherty said she is look-
ing forward to working
with spring track throw-
ing coach Paul Bentley,
who coached the freshman
girls basketball team this
winter, and to resuming her
favorite event, which is not
included in winter track.
"I'm just looking forward
to next season for discus,"
she said, "because I like
discus better."
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