PLAYER BIOGRAPHY

Name: John Benton

Age: 40

Position: Lead

Hometown: St. Michael, MN

Family: Married to Carrie

Nickname: GG

3 Words that Best Describe Me: Outgoing, Passionate, Idealistic

PERSONAL INTERESTS

Favorite Food: Anything grilled or smoked. Especially ribs!

Hobbies (other than curling!): Bass Fishing, Golf, Cooking, Computers

Favorite Music/Performers: I enjoy all types of music, but like Rock and Pop. Anything I can sing to. U2, The Eagles, BNL, and Kenny Chesney could be considered some of my favorites.

Favorite Actors/Movies/TV Shows: Anything with Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Gary Sinese, Ed Harris, or Matt Damon. My favorites might be Apollo 13, Bourne Identity, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and CSI New York.

CURLING

Home Club: St. Paul Curling Club

Years Curling: 34

Curls: Right-handed

How I Got Started: My mother and father began curl in college in the 1950’s. All of our family (10 siblings) was introduced to the sport through them. When I was six, I began to curl in a program for kids.

Mentors/Tell About Them: There have been so many curling mentors in my life. Certainly my parents were influential as well as other curling families that I played with in St. Paul such as the Schwab, Jytyla, and Arnold families. Individuals who have had an impact on my curling start with Mike Rugg, who ran the junior program I was part of; Bill Farbelow and Neil Kay, who were early coaches of mine; my primary coach, who helped me win a Jr. State Championship was Curt Brundies. There are also a cast of hundreds of other teammates and peers who have taught me so much…Rich Ruohonen, Dave Running, Jeff Laundergan, Mike Farbelow, Kent Beadle, John Pollnow, Pete Fenson, Andy Borland, Ben Tucker, Kevin Kakela, Mike Liapis, Bob Fenson, Chris Moore, to just name a few.

Career Highlights (In Your Own Words): My first taste of success came when I won the Minnesota Jr. State Championships in 1987. I was the skip (captain) of the team at just 17 and my teammates were also quite young. Mike Lindholm played 3rd, Steve Jytyla played 2nd, and Jeff Puleo played lead. We were coached by Curt Brundies. We didn’t fare so well at Jr. Nationals, but I knew I had potential.

After a number of years skipping in the Men’s competitive field, in 1997 I decided to move to a front end position with Dave Running’s team. Our team, Dave Running, Jeff Laundergan, Mike Mueller and I played out of Wisconsin in the Men’s division. We won the highly contested Wisconsin Men’s State Championship by beating the perennial favorite team of Steve Brown and Paul Pustovar. That was my first of seven trips to the USCA Men’s National Championships. (1997,1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)

The obvious high point, however, is this last season of curling with John, Jason, Jeff and now Chris and Phill. I had imagined winning the trials and going to the Olympics but it was always a very far off dream. Having that dream come true and being able to share it with all of my friends and family inside and outside of the curling world is very special.

Curling Achievements:

• U.S. Olympic Team Trials: 2009 (champion), 2005 (5th)
• U.S. National Championships: 2009 (champion), 2007 (8th), 2006 (5th), 2005 (5th), 2004 (5th), 2002, 1998 (5th), 1997
• World Curling Championships: 2009 (5th)
• Minnesota State Men’s Championship: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Wisconsin State Men’s Championship: 1996, 1997 (champion), 1998
• U.S. Men’s Junior Nationals: 1988 (6th)
• Minnesota State Junior Championships: 1987 (champion)
• U.S. and Canadian World Curling Tour Events

Related Achievements:

• U.S. Curling Association Athlete Advisory Committee: 2005 – Present
• Minnesota State Curling Association: President 2006-2008
• Minnesota State Curling Association: First VP/Championships 2004-2006
• Co-Chair St. Paul Cash Spiel; World Curling Tour Event: 2002-Present
• Coach: Amanda Tucker Junior Curling Team – U.S. Junior Nationals 2008