Jim Vukich
James R. Vukich was an American curler and two-time national champion.
Career
Vukich curled while growing up in Minnesota, even winning the Minnesota schoolboy curling state title in 1963. He later stepped away from the sport for a while, until picking it back up while living in Seattle. He then went on to, as skip of his team, win four Washington state championships and two national championships, the latter in 1987 and 1989. Vukich defeated the defending champion Steve Brown to win his first national title in 1987. At the 1987 World Men's Championship they missed the playoffs when they lost a tiebreaker to Germany's Rodger Schmidt, leaving Team Vukich in fifth place in the final standings. Also in 1987 Vukich competed at the first United States Olympic Curling Trials, to decide the team that would represent the United States at the 1988 Winter Olympics where curling would be a demonstration sport. The trials were a triple-elimination tournament, and Vukich's third loss came against fellow Seattle curler Roger Schnee.In 1989, Vukich earned his second national title when he again defeated Steve Brown in the finals of the National Championship. At the 1989 World's, they finished last out of the ten teams with only one win.