By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Here are some things you may not know about curling:

1. It's an Olympic sport that was played at the recently concluded 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

2. One of the only dedicated curling facilities in the western United States is right here in North Seattle's Haller Lake neighborhood.

3. In March, the Granite Curling Club, located at 1440 N. 128th St., will host the U.S. Mixed Nationals Curling Championship, which will involve 10 teams of two men and two women each from across the country.

Curling is a sport that originated in Scotland. It could be described as a cross between shuffleboard and golf - played on ice.

In a curling match, two four-player teams (or "rinks") take turns sliding 42-pound granite stones down a 146-foot sheet of ice towards a concentric ring of circles known as the "house."

Stones are used to score points, guard existing stones in the house, or knock the other rink's stones out of the way. Players use brooms to scrub the ice, making sure it's free of debris and raising the temperature of the ice ever so slightly to reduce friction and to help control the stone's course.

A curling match has 10 innings (or "ends") and takes two-and-a-half to three hours to complete. This will be the sixth national championship the Granite Curling Club has hosted since it was founded in 1961, with the most recent being the men's and women's nationals in 1997.

Of course, Seattleites don't need a home field advantage to do well. Over the years, local teams have taken 23 national titles.

Keith Schreiber of Queen Anne and Lisa Rauliuk of Ballard are the co-chairs for this year's U.S. Mixed Nationals Championship Committee.

"Any time a club can host a national event, it's a big deal," said Rauliuk, who along with Schreiber, noted that the Granite Curling Club was chosen as the site for this year's mixed nationals championship because it did a good job of hosting the event five years ago.

"When the competitors came here, we set up the event to give them a reasonable amount of preparation," Schreiber said. He added that this year, "We've tried to put the schedule together so that the teams have a chance to take advantage of the locality."

"People love to come to Seattle so it makes us a wonderful venue," Rauliuk said.

Three hundred spectators are expected to attend the semi-finals and finals, which are scheduled for March 22-23. Up to 600 people are expected to attend the round-robin games during the rest of the week. Schreiber said the sport does attract fans - especially those who understand the tactics behind the maneuvers.

"It's very chess-like in the way it's played," said Schreiber. "It's a very strategic mind game."

One of the teams that will be competing in this year's mixed nationals won't have far to travel: the Granite Curling Club is the home of this year's Washington state mixed curling champions, the Brady Clark Rink, which won the title in February. Led by its namesake and captain, Brady Clark, the team includes Clark's wife Cristin Clark, along with Jason Larway and Kim Kropp.

Tickets for the U.S. Mixed National Championships are $5 for single-day admission to the round-robin games, $5 per game for the semi-finals and finals. Ticket packages are also available. The opening ceremonies will be held Sunday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m.

The first round-robin game starts that same day at 1 p.m. Round-robin games will be played daily through March 21 at noon and at 7 p.m.

The semi-finals will take place on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. and the finals will take place on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m.

For more information, call the club at 362-2446. b