Man with Alexandria connection competes in Olympic curling trials – Echo Press

Although they did not win, Cameron Rittenour's curling team Team Brundidge competed in the trials in Omaha, Neb., from Nov. 12-21.

"It was a great opportunity for them to be on the ice with all these people," said Cameron's mother, Alexandria native Kathleen Rittenour. "It was pretty cool."

One of the reasons Kathleen was so excited for her son to be in the Olympic Trials is that he's still relatively new to the sport, with only five years of experience.

As a member of the Bosek snowmobile racing team, Cameron was involved in a serious snowmobile accident, injuring his hand.

"We told him he had to pick up a new winter sport, and he had a friend back in college at (North Dakota State University) that was a curler," Kathleen said.

Cameron picked up the sport himself and found success with it early on, becoming one of the best "sweepers" in the country, Kathleen said.

"He went to nationals every year so far because he picks good teammates," she said. "The teammates that he has picked have made all the difference in the world."

Nevertheless, Cameron's team is still "pretty new," Kathleen said.

"All the other teams have got junior champions, world champions, Olympic champions on them, and then you've got Cameron's team," she said.

The very first competition in the Olympic Trials was between Team Brundidge and Team Shuster, which includes John Shuster, who has been to the Olympics four times so far, and won the gold medal in curling in 2018.

Team Shuster ultimately won the trials this year, as well, and Shuster, a Duluth native, will be attending his fifth Olympic Games when he heads to Beijing.

Team Brundidge made it to the Olympic Trials after scoring second place in the national tournament this year, Kathleen said.

Six men's teams and six women's teams competed at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, she said.

"By having six, they played five other teams twice throughout the week, and then the two that had the best records competed for the Olympics," Kathleen said. "If there was a tie, then they would have done the tie-breaker between prior to the two top ones. But there wasn't a tie. It was pretty clean-cut."

Although Cameron didn't make the Olympics this time around, Kathleen said competing at the Trials was still a great experience.

"All in all, I'm super proud of my son to be at that level so quickly," she said.

Read more:

Man with Alexandria connection competes in Olympic curling trials - Echo Press