Dakota Curling Club Wins Arena Club National Championship

A women's Dakota Curling Club team from Burnsville recently won the Arena Club National Championship in Indiana.

The team was chosen to represent Minnesota in the tournament, which went from July 18 to 22. 

From the Dakota Curling Club:

The event was sponsored by USA Curling and was developed to promote national competition among curlers who play on arena ice, as opposed to those who play on dedicated curling ice. 

Curling clubs which operate in public ice arenas and share ice with hockey and figure skaters typically have less access to ice time and often play on less than ideal ice conditions. As a result, curlers from these clubs don’t always have access to nationally competitive events. 

Nineteen men’s teams and thirteen women’s teams from across the United States participated in the inaugural event. Dakota Curling Club was selected, along with a Vikingland Curling Club men’s team (Alexandria, MN), to represent the state of Minnesota at the national championship.

The women’s team was skipped by Darcy Ellarby, from Burnsville Minnesota.  Her husband, Paul Ellarby also skipped the men’s national team, which finished the tournament with a record of 3-2.

Ellarby was joined by Jenny Witschen in the position of Vice Skip, Beth Lundquist as Second, Julie Wennberg as Lead, and Robyn Farm as Alternate.  All five players are members of the Dakota Curling Club, and all except Lundquist joined the club in 2006.  Lundquist joined just 3 years ago after taking a Learn to Curl class at DCC.

The Dakota Curling Club was founded in 2006 and plays Sunday evenings at the Burnsville Ice Center.  In addition to winter and spring leagues the club offers classes, skill clinics, and frequently hosts private corporate events.  More information about the club is available at www.dakotacurlingclub.org.