Athletes

As the skip of her team, Patti Lank delivers the last two rocks at the end of a match when the ice is often cluttered with other stones. Therefore, many curling matches are decided on her last shot. This year Lank was a member of the champion team in the 2004 women's nationals which happened in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Her team also came in fourth in the 2004 world championships. She was a member of the championship teams in 2004 and 2002 in the Continental Cup and a member of the championship team in the 2003 Shorty Jenkins Classic. She also participated in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for curling in 2001 where she placed 2nd. From 2000-2001 she was the Wisconsin State champion and a semifinalist in the Southwest Ontario Women's Classic. Lank was the 1999 USA Curling Female Curler of the Year and her team placed second in the World Curling Championships in New Brunswick, Canada, in April 1999. In 1999, Lank's team won the U.S. Curling Women's National Championship in Duluth, Minn., with a perfect record of 12-0. In 1998, she competed in and won the World Berth Challenge Defender Team Selection Competition in Milwaukee, Wis. Lank placed second in the European Masters and second in the National Sports Curling Classic in Ontario, Canada. Her team finished second at the 1998 U.S. national championships and fourth at the 1998 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Her team won the U.S. national championship in 1997, improving on a third-place finish in 1996. At the 1995 mixed nationals, Lank's team placed second. (8/04)