Monica Walker

For the 20th century illustrator, see Monica Walker (illustrator).
Monica Walker
Curler
Born (1987-02-20) February 20, 1987 (age 37)
Concord, Massachusetts
Team
Curling clubSt. Paul & Four Seasons
Mixed doubles
partner		Alex Leichter
Curling career
World Championship
appearances		3 (2015, 2018, 2019)
Grand Slam victories1 (2018 Players' Championship)
Medal record
Curling
Representing Minnesota Minnesota
United States Women's Curling Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Everett
Gold medal – first place 2018 Fargo
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kalamazoo
Silver medal – second place 2016 Jacksonville
Silver medal – second place 2021 Wausau
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Kalamazoo
United States Olympic Curling Trials
Silver medal – second place 2017 Omaha

Monica Walker (born February 20, 1987)[1][2] is an American curler originally from Brighton, Massachusetts.[3] She is a three-time national champion.

Curling career

Walker began curling in 1997. In adult competitions, she placed 4th at the U.S. National Championships in 2012 and again in 2013.[3]

In 2016 Walker and Persinger left Roth's team to join Jamie Sinclair as the front end of a new team, with Alex Carlson as third. This new team found success, winning the 2017 U.S. Championships, but missed out on going to the World Championship due to not having enough points on the World Curling Tour. Walker and Team Sinclair competed for the winning Team North America at the 2017 Continental Cup of Curling. The team played in one Grand Slam, the 2017 Humpty's Champions Cup (qualifying as US champions), where they made it all the way to the quarterfinals.

The team started the 2017–18 season by winning the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic. They lost in the finals of the 2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials, missing out on the chance to play in the Olympics. Later that season they would win the 2018 United States Women's Curling Championship and would represent the United States at the 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship, where they finished fourth. Team Sinclair made history at the 2018 Players' Championship when they became the first American team to win a Grand Slam event. To finish the season they had a quarterfinal finish at the 2018 Humpty's Champions Cup.

The United States Curling Association would change the high performance teams the following season, for the next Olympic quadrennial. Walker remained at lead for skip Sinclair, with twin sisters Sarah and Taylor Anderson playing third and second respectively. The team did not have a very successful season, up until the 2019 United States Women's Curling Championship where they earned a third national title in a row, defeating Team Roth in the final. At the 2019 World Women's Curling Championship the team went 6–6 finishing in seventh place, just missing the playoffs. At the end of the season Walker announced she would be retiring from competitive curling.

Walker's retirement from competitive women's curling only lasted one season, as during the 2020 off-season Sinclair formed a new team, bringing Walker out of her short retirement to play at third, and adding two younger curlers for the front end, Cora Farrell and Elizabeth Cousins.[4][5] The team was not able to compete in any tour events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they were able to play in the 2021 United States Women's Curling Championship, held May 26–30 in Wausau, Wisconsin.[6] There, they topped the round robin with an undefeated 6–0 record, which qualified them directly to the championship final where they faced Team Cory Christensen.[7] After trailing early, Team Sinclair tied the game in the eighth end, but couldn't hold on for the win as Christensen scored two points in the extra end to win 8–6.[8]

The following season, Team Sinclair began by winning the 2021 Oakville Fall Classic, defeating Suzanne Birt 8–6 in the final game.[9] Later in the season, they won another tour event at the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic with a 10–4 win over Kristy Watling in the championship final.[10] They reached the final of the US Open of Curling, losing to the Tabitha Peterson rink 8–5 in the final. They also had a semifinal finish at the 2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic and a quarterfinal finish at the 2021 Oakville Labour Day Classic.[11] Team Sinclair then played in the 2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials, held November 12 to 21 at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.[12] Despite entering the Trials as the second ranked team, the team did not have a good performance, failing to reach the playoff round with a 4–6 record, finishing third.[13] Team Sinclair ended the 2021–22 season with a semifinal loss at the Curl Mesabi Classic. They disbanded following the season.

Personal life

Walker is a native of the Boston area. She is the daughter of two Scottish parents - Phil and Hilary Walker and has 2 younger sisters - Jillian and Emily. Monica is a huge Boston Bruins fan and enjoys playing soccer in her free time. She attended Boston University for her undergrad and completed a study abroad at the University of Edinburgh. [14]Walker attended the Simmons School of Management for an MBA and works in Quality Control in the Pharmaceutical industry. She lives in Brighton, MA and curls with Broomstones Curling Club[2]

Teams

Women's

Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2003–04[15] Monica Walker Laura Hallisey Jillian Walker Juliana Sheldon Nikki Rossetti Russell Hallisey
2004–05 Monica Walker Laura Hallisey Jillian Walker Juliana Sheldon Nikki Rossetti Karyn Cousins 2005 USJCC (5th)
2005–06 Monica Walker Laura Hallisey Jillian Walker Nikki Rossetti 2006 USJCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2006–07 Monica Walker Laura Hallisey Jillian Walker Nikki Rossetti 2007 USJCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)[16]
Aileen Sormunen Courtney George Molly Bonner Jordan Moulton Monica Walker Robert Fenson 2007 WJCC (4th)
2007–08 Monica Walker Laura Hallisey Nikki Rossetti Jillian Walker Karyn Cousins 2008 USJCC (4th)[17][18]
2009–10 Monica Walker Elizabeth Williams Ashley Lawreck Rachel Ryan 2010 USWCC (5th)
2010–11 Chrissy Haase Monica Walker Karen Walker Nicole Vassar 2011 USWCC (9th)
2011–12 Alex Carlson Monica Walker Kendall Moulton-Behm Jordan Moulton 2012 USWCC (4th)
2012–13 Alex Carlson Monica Walker Kendall Moulton-Behm Jordan Moulton 2013 USWCC (4th)
2013–14 Courtney George Aileen Sormunen Amanda McLean Monica Walker Jordan Moulton 2013 USOCT (4th)
2014 USWCC (4th)
2014–15 Aileen Sormunen Tara Peterson Vicky Persinger Monica Walker 2015 USWCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Aileen Sormunen Monica Walker Tara Peterson Vicky Persinger Becca Hamilton Scott Baird 2015 WWCC (10th)
2015–16 Nina Roth Monica Walker Aileen Sormunen Vicky Persinger 2016 USWCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2016–17 Jamie Sinclair Alex Carlson Vicky Persinger Monica Walker 2017 USOCT 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2017 USWCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017–18 Jamie Sinclair Alex Carlson Vicky Persinger Monica Walker Jenna Martin (WWCC) Scott Baird 2018 USWCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 WWCC (4th)
2018–19 Jamie Sinclair Sarah Anderson Taylor Anderson Monica Walker Vicky Persinger (WWCC) Bryan Cochrane 2019 USWCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 WWCC (7th)
2020–21 Jamie Sinclair Monica Walker Cora Farrell Elizabeth Cousins Mark Lazar 2021 USWCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2021–22 Jamie Sinclair Monica Walker Cora Farrell Elizabeth Cousins

Mixed doubles

Season Female Male Events
2015–16 Monica Walker Sean Beighton 2016 USMDCC (DNQ)
2016–17 Monica Walker Jason Smith 2017 USMDCC (DNQ)
2017–18 Monica Walker Jason Smith 2017 USMDCOT (5th)
2018–19 Monica Walker Alex Leichter 2019 USMDCC (DNQ)
2019–20 Monica Walker Alex Leichter 2020 USMDCC (4th)
2020–21[19] Monica Walker Alex Leichter 2021 USMDCC (5th)
2021–22 Monica Walker Andrew Stopera

References

  1. ^ 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide
  2. ^ a b "Monica Walker". ASHAM CurlingZone. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  3. ^ a b "Monica Walker". USA Curling. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  4. ^ "Team Sinclair Announced". USA Curling. May 7, 2020. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "Jamie Sinclair, Monica Walker reunite for 2020–21 season". TSN. May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  6. ^ @usacurl (May 4, 2021). "Meet the seven women's teams that have qualified for the 2021 #USACurling Women's National Championship!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 28, 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "CHRISTENSEN, SINCLAIR TO PLAY IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL". USA Curling. May 30, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  8. ^ "CHRISTENSEN WINS 2021 U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP". USA Curling. May 30, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  9. ^ "Howard wins Oakville Fall Classic; Sinclair edges Birt in women's final". TSN. August 29, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  10. ^ "Curling tours update". Curling Canada. October 4, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  11. ^ Todd Saelhof (October 11, 2021). "American Peterson hopes Autumn Gold Curling Classic win sign of things to come". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  12. ^ "2022 Olympic Team Trials". USA Curling. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  13. ^ "Team Christensen clinches second playoff spot at 2022 Trials". USA Curling. November 17, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  14. ^ "Monica Walker". Team USA. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015.
  15. ^ "Bonspiel results – 2003 GNCC Junior Women's Championship". Grand National Curling Club. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  16. ^ Larson, Craig (January 28, 2007). "Junior curlers earn return trip to nationals". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  17. ^ "Massachusetts Junior Women". 2008 USCA Junior Curling Nationals. Archived from the original on Feb 4, 2008. Retrieved Mar 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Page Playoffs". 2008 USCA Junior Curling Nationals. Archived from the original on Feb 11, 2008. Retrieved Mar 25, 2021.
  19. ^ "Mixed Doubles Teams Announced". USA Curling. May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.