Penny Greely replaces injured Patrick McDonald on Team USA

 

Penny Greely, interviewed by WBAY TV last September

Penny Greely of Green Bay, Wisconsin, will replace California's Patrick McDonald on Team USA. Patrick announced he required shoulder surgery shortly after the USA selection camp last September, and would not be available for the 2011 Worlds in Prague.

Greely is a high performance athlete who won bronze at the 2004 Athens Paralympics at sitting volleyball, but attendance at the selection camp, which was in her home town, was her first exposure to competitive wheelchair curling.

Team leader Marc Deperno said: After a series of competitions and skill events, Penny Greely of Green Bay, Wisconsin has been selected as Patrick's replacement.  Penny is a newcomer to the sport having only curled since September 2010 but has shown tremendous energy and commitment to her training regimen.  We are excited to have Penny on board and are confident in her ability to assist Team USA with our goal of reaching the podium in Prague.

You can watch a WBAY TV feature on Penny at this link. As we reported last September (before Patrick's announcement) it was the degree of difficulty that drew her more to the game.

"I'm a really competitive person so this was right up my alley when I started playing."

No change for Team USA after trials

 
Team USA 2011 will be represented by the same five athletes that brought them so close to medals at the last Worlds and Vancouver Paralympics.

Augusto 'Goose' Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.) will skip James Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.), Jacqui Kapinowski (Point Pleasant, N.J.), James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.) and Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.). (as in photo above)

Athletes named as alternates for Team USA include Tammy Delano (Rome, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.), Laura Schwanger (Mantua, N.J.) and Bob Prenoveau (Chittenango, N.Y.). The alternates will compete in events and train as Team USA B. [USA Curling press release]

Twelve athletes attended this weekend's open tryouts at the Green Bay CC in Wisconsin. While there is promising talent among those not selected, the downside to working with a small national squad is that they provide a receding target to a newcomer hoping to displace them.


One trialist undaunted by the challenge, was Green Bay native Penny Greely. She told WBAY TV it was the degree of difficulty that drew her more to the game. 

"I'm a really competitive person so this was right up my alley when I started playing. I hope to remain part of the curling club, get on some leagues. And hopefully making the national team some day," she added.

Watch an interview with Penny Greely HERE.