Monthly Archives: November 2022

PEMBINA SET TO HOST CANADIAN MASTERS

Posted on by
Reply

Twenty-six curling teams from across Canada will be at Winnipeg’s Pembina Curling Club November 13-20 for the first Masters national championship events to be played in Winnipeg since 2011.

The COVID-delayed Canadian Masters Men’s & Women’s Championships, for curlers age 60 and better, will feature the best in the age group from 13 provinces and territories on the men’s side and 11 provinces and territories on the women’s side. To ensure an even draw, in keeping with the event’s traditions, Manitoba will have both a provincial representative and a host team entry.

The teams roster list is full of individuals and teams with extensive curling resumes ranging right back to juniors (underlining the age of the players is the fact that juniors is referred to in some of the biographies as ‘school-boys’). Every team has many past provincial championships to boast but a few of the players stand-out for their national and world championship credentials.

Leading this list is Al Hackner, the Northern Ontario skip who won the 1982 Brier in Brandon and went on to win the world championship. He repeated the double in 1985. He followed those wins with Canadian Senior (2006) and Masters (2017) championships. His teammates Eric Harnden, Frank Morissette, and Bruce Munro were all part of that 2017 Masters championship team.

The Alberta men’s front end of Randy Ponich and Wilf Edgar were both members of the 2013 Canadian Senior champion and World Gold medal winning Senior Men’s team. On the women’s side, Ontario skip Jan Carwardine won the Canadian Senior Women’s title in 2007.

In addition to the Hackner team, there are four past Masters champions in the competition. Alberta men’s skip Mickey Pendergast won gold in 2018 and repeated in 2019. The Saskatchewan Women’s team has three past champions in the line-up – skip Beverly Krasowski (2019), second Linda Delver (2012, 2014 & 2016), and lead Trudy Dykes (2016).

Manitoba’s four teams include provincial Masters champions Murray Warren-Brandon (Brian Barker, Reg Warren, Terry Warren, alternate Gary Barker) and East St. Paul’s Judy Colwell (Wendy Nykoluk, Donna Smiley, Leslie Brown, alternate Debbie Palson). The Manitoba host teams are Sandra Cowling-Hamiota (Sheila Gregory, Jackie Brooks, Jeannine Skayman, alternate Wenda Turner) and Mark Franklin-Granite (Jamie Hay, Barry Campbell, Greg Ziemanski, alternate Blair Smith).

The teams will arrive in Winnipeg for practice on Sunday, November 13 with opening ceremonies scheduled that evening at 7:00PM. The first games will go on the ice at 8:30AM on Monday with four draws a day through the week. The playoff schedule has semi-finals at 2PM Saturday and the finals and bronze medal games at 10:00AM Sunday followed by closing ceremonies.

Joyce McDougall and her team won the Canadian Masters championship at Assiniboine Memorial in 2011. Manitobans have won Canadian Men’s Masters titles on six previous occasions: Barry Fry (2001-Winnipeg), Ken Grove (2002-Medicine Hat), Martin Bailey (2004-Kelowna), Doug Armour (2005-Brandon), Ray Orr (2009-Saskatoon), and Ron Westcott (2015-Whitehorse).

Event passes ($50.00), daily passes ($10.00) and tickets for each draw ($5.00) will be available at the Pembina Curling Club (1341 Pembina Hwy).  for other event details, go to https://pembinacc.com/

Peterson, Marnoch Join McDonald in Winning Minnedosa’s Provincial Berths

Posted on by
Reply

Neepawa’s Viterra Championship host committee was a winner before the second berth game began today in Minnedosa. Either Kelly Marnoch would be bringing Carberry fans to Neepawa OR Jeff Stewart would be bringing Gladstone fans – a definite win to have a “local” team in the field so early, opening up possibilities of one extra local team later on.

And it was Kelly Marnoch (fourth Bart Witherspoon, Branden Jorgenson, Dean Smith) who earned the berth, joining Jordon McDonald’s Deer Lodge team who had beaten Marnoch earlier in the day to win the first available berth.

The interesting play was almost all at the away end of the rink!

With a string of stones in play up the centre line, and three biting the button, Marnoch played the last stones of the fifth end as if he had two counters. When Stewart’s team was unable to move them, the measuring stick came out and Marnoch was proven correct.

However, the game was won on the seventh end – a completely different end from the fifth. Facing four Stewart counters, Marnoch’s fourth shooter Bart Witherspoon made a triple kill and rolled to count a single point. Up 4-2 at that point, the lead help up. Marnoch led 5-3 coming home.

But – proving he could also throw the delicate shot, Witherspoon broke the Gladstone team’s hearts with an angle tap from the front of the eight foot to the button, nestled against Stewart’s shot stone – leaving Stewart nothing but an unlikely double-angle, double-raise backward through a port. Final score, Marnoch over Stewart 6-3.

In the Scotties Berth event, Beth Peterson’s Assiniboine Memorial team (Jenna Loder, Katherine Doerksen, Melissa Gordon, alternate Robyn Njegovan) won the invitation to compete in the provincial Scotties at East St. Paul in late January.

As top seed, the team had a first round bye in the 7-team ‘spiel and needed to win only three games to earn their provincial entry.

The final, against Abby Ackland’s AMCC team was tied at two after three ends but a Peterson hit through a port scored a three on the fourth end and Team Peterson clogged the centre of the rings on the fifth, scoring another big end and concession.

Earlier in the day, Peterson had beaten Ackland to advance to the final while Ackland had to win over Grace Beaudry to move on to their third game of the day.

Team Peterson joins the defending champion Mackenzie Zacharias team (with Jennifer Jones added to the line-up) as the first two teams in the 12 team provincial Scotties field.

MCDONALD TEAM WINS FIRST VITERRA BERTH OF THE SEASON

Posted on by
Reply

Jordon McDonald, a twice Manitoba champion skip last year, and his young Deer Lodge team have won the first Viterra Championship berth of the season.

(r-l) McDonald, Reece Hamm, Elias Huminicki, Cam Olafson, Coach Blaine Malo defeated Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) in eight ends today in Minnedosa to win the first of two men’s championship berths available this weekend.

An early key shot came from the left hand of third Reece Hamm. The teams had traded singles after a blank first end. With McDonald holding the hammer, Marnoch had half buried his own stone fully in the 8-ft circle behind one of his own stones. Hamm’s runback was perfect, removing the Marnoch counter and guard and they went on to score a deuce. The two opint lead at that point allowed the Deer Lodge team to dictate play and singles in ends 5 and 6 provided a 4-point lead; not insurmountable in some games but today it was.

The McDonald team includes half of both of the young Deer Lodge skip’s TWO champion teams from last season. With Hamm and Huminicki (and Alexandre Fontaine) Team McDonald won the U-18 title and with Huminicki and Olafson (and Jace Freeman) Team McDonald won the U-21 title. McDonald and Hamm (with Huminicki as team alternate) also posted a respectable 2W-2L in last year’s Viterra Championship in Selkirk, winning two before losing back to back qualifying games.

The Marnoch team has a second chance today. A second berth game will pit them against Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) who defeated Jay Kinnaird (Virden) to advance to the berth game.

Trailing by two playing end #8, Kinnaird came oh-so-close on an attempted highlight reel double kill. His hit on a rock in the back eight foot – jumped straight sideways and contacted an opposition stone frozen to the face of his own stone in the back of the rings. He moved it but not far enough and scored only two to tie. Kinnaird stole one on end #9 to lead coming home but a last stone guard overcurled, allowing Stewart a hit on the button without having to stick. He made the shot for two and the win.

In the Scotties berth bonspiel, Beth Peterson (AMCC) will play Abby Ackland (AMCC) for the first provincial Scotties berth to be earned this fall. Both games are scheduled for 6PM in Minnedosa.