Schultz won a silver medal with Johnson's rink at the 2005 World Championships in Paisley, Scotland. The team went 10-1 in the round robin at Worlds and earned the No. 2 seed, but after beating Sweden in the 1-2 playoff, it lost a rematch in the gold-medal game. To get to Worlds, Johnson's team won the U.S. Trials in February 2005; in the finals, they beat 2002 Olympian Debbie McCormick.
The Alaska native began curling in sixth grade when introduced to the sport by a neighbor. She says she didn't like it at first but was encouraged to stick with it by her father. Eventually she grew to love it, and her dad is now the president of the Anchorage Curling Club.
In 2003, Schultz moved to Duluth, Minn., because one of her friends told her about the high level of curling competition in the state. She also started school in Duluth at Lake Superior College, where she was in a radiological technician program. In March 2005, shortly after her rink qualified for the Olympics, she decided to take a year off from school to concentrate on curling. She moved to Bemidji, Minn., in August to train with her teammates. She says her focus when she returns to school will be physical therapy.
Schultz used to play softball and still enjoys camping and fishing, but she says she now has little time for anything but curling. Her brother, Josh, also curls; he competed at U.S. Nationals in 2003.
|