Delaney Strouse

Delaney Strouse (born July 12, 2000) is an American curler from Midland, Michigan. She currently skips her own team out of Traverse City. She is a two-time champion of the United States Junior Curling Championships, going on to win the bronze medal at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships and the 2023 Winter World University Games.

Career

Strouse made her first appearance at the international level representing Michigan at the 2016 U18 International Curling Championships. As third for the Maya Willertz rink, the team finished with a winless 0–7 record.

For the 2019–20 season, Strouse joined the newly formed Susan Dudt squad with Sydney Mullaney and Rebecca Rodgers. Initially playing second on the team, they reached the semi-finals of the St. Paul Cash Spiel and represented the U.S. at the 2019 Changan Ford International Curling Elite where they finished 0–7. In the new year, Strouse took over skipping duties on the team with Dudt moving down to second. The change paid off as the team won the 2020 United States Junior Curling Championships, winning 9–8 in the final against Alaska's Cora Farrell. This qualified them to represent the States at the 2021 World Junior Curling Championships, however, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They ended their season by playing in the 2020 United States Women's Curling Championship where they finished 2–5 through the round robin.

The following season, Leah Yavarow joined the team at third, shifting Mullaney down to second and Dudt to alternate. Despite the limited number of events due to the pandemic, Team Strouse won the lone tour event they played in, the contender round of the US Open of Curling. They also played in the 2021 United States Women's Curling Championship which was held in a bio-secure bubble at the Wausau Curling Club in Wausau, Wisconsin in May 2021. They finished with a 2–4 record, not advancing to the playoffs. Strouse also played in the bubble for the 2021 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with partner Nicholas Connolly where they went 1–4.

Team Strouse began the 2021–22 season by capturing a second U.S. junior title, going undefeated to win the event. After going 5–0 in the round robin, they beat Samantha Jones in the semi-final before defeating Katherine Gourianova in the gold medal game. They also earned qualification into the 2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials by winning the Mayfield qualifying event, beating Christine McMakin in the final qualifier. Before the Trials, Leah Yavarow was replaced on the team by Anne O'Hara who became the team's new third. At the Trials, they finished tied for fifth with a 3–7 record. In January, the team was set to compete in the 2022 World Junior-B Curling Championships, however, an outbreak of COVID cases in the men's event forced the women's event to be cancelled. Because of this, the World Curling Federation named the top three ranked nations who had not already qualified for the world championship as the qualifiers, with the United States being one of them. In May 2022, they represented the U.S. at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships. Through the round robin, Strouse led her team to a second place 7–2 record, suffering losses to Latvia's Evelīna Barone and the top ranked Norway's Eirin Mesloe. In the semi-finals, they met the eventual champions Japan's Sae Yamamoto where they fell 7–3. They bounced back in the bronze medal game, however, beating Norway in a 10–6 game. Also during the season, Strouse teamed up with Daniel Casper at the 2022 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where the pair made it all the way to the 3 vs. 4 game before being defeated by Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen.

The Strouse rink found major success during the 2022–23 season, beginning at the US Open of Curling where they had an undefeated run until the final where they were defeated by Ha Seung-youn. They also qualified for the playoffs in their next event, the 2022 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, before falling in the quarterfinals to Lauren Mann. The team next played in the playdowns for the 2023 Winter World University Games where they won all four of their games to win the event. Back on tour, they had four more playoff appearances, reaching three quarterfinals and one semi-final at the Curling Stadium Contender Series. In the new year, the team represented the U.S. on home soil at the 2023 Winter World University Games in Saranac Lake, New York. The team was dominant through the round robin, with Strouse leading her team of Anne O'Hara, Sydney Mullaney, Rebecca Rodgers and Susan Dudt to an 8–1 record, finishing just behind Korea's Ha Seung-youn who was their sole loss. In the semi-finals, they met China's Han Yu where they suffered a narrow 6–5 loss. They would claim the bronze medal after a 7–3 win against Great Britain's Fay Henderson. Continuing their momentum from the season, Team Strouse finished 6–1 through the round robin at the 2023 United States Women's Curling Championship. In the 1 vs. 2 game, they faced the top ranked Tabitha Peterson rink where they gave up four in the tenth end to lose 11–10. They rebounded by beating Sarah Anderson 9–4 in the semi-final. They could not take revenge on Peterson in the final, however, dropping the game 8–5 and settling for the silver medal. Strouse and Casper finished the season at the 2023 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where they lost in a tiebreaker to Taylor Anderson and Ben Richardson.

Personal life

Strouse is an urban studies and communications student at the University of Minnesota. She previously attended Herbert Henry Dow High School. She began curling in seventh grade. Her brother Samuel Strouse is also a curler.

Grand Slam record

Teams

References

External links

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Living people
2000 births
Sportspeople from Midland, Michigan
Sportspeople from Traverse City, Michigan
American female curlers
21st-century American women
Universiade medalists in curling
Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games
FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States
University of Minnesota alumni