McCormick and Pottinger advance

As Heath McCormick's final rock came to a halt on Saturday at the National Curling Championship finals in Aston, he and his teammates could see the win was theirs. The shot all but solidified the eventual 5-4 victory, and sent Team McCormick as the USA representatives to the World Curling Championships in Switzerland at the end of March.

"When my last rock came to rest, I got ahead of myself," McCormick said. "I thought it was basically in a spot where he [Peter Fenson] really didn't have a shot."

Entering the final end, the score was tied 4-4. Team Fenson shot first, so McCormick would get the final rock if need be. Team McCormick's seventh rock didn't need to be the last, but it would end up that way.

With a near impossible shot, Fenson couldn't convert, and McCormick didn't have to let another rock glide across the ice.

"I felt like we were in control of the game, for the most part, and always kind of had the pressure on them," McCormick said.

Fenson, his team's skip, said that although his team wanted to win and move on to worlds, it accomplished its main goal, which was to qualify for the Olympic trials.

"A game like that, you have to come and play great, and they played great," Fenson said. "We also want to go back and upgrade our medal at the Olympics, so we had to qualify for the trials, and we did that. Once the pain goes away from the loss, we have that to look forward to."

Saturday marked the end of both the men's and women's national championships. Allison Pottinger and her team knocked off Cassie Potter's squad, 7-5, to move on as representatives for the USA in the women's world championships.

Pottinger, who won her 10th national championship, but her first as skip, is excited to return to the familiar position and don her Team USA apparel again.

"It's a humbling feeling every time you put the jacket on," she said. "We definitely still feel like it's us and our team, but we know we're representing something bigger at that point. It's an honor."

Men's and women's worlds are held separately, so while the men fly to Switzerland and begin March 31, the women will make the trek up to Alberta, Canada, for their first match on March 17.

This was the first time the U.S. Curling National Championships had been held in Philadelphia. The finals were sold out, with hopeful spectators being turned away at the door.

Former United States Curling Association president Leland Rich, who traveled from Fairbanks, Alaska, for the competition, said the new location will bring added interest to the somewhat obscure sport.

"There's actually a lot more curlers on the East Coast than you'd think," he said. "To bring it and get the exposure, it's been very good."

Of the winning teams' chances in their respective world championships, Rich believes they'll both "do just fine."

Contact Dan Moberger at dmoberger@phillynews.com