CURLMANITOBA ANNOUNCES TOP SEEDS FOR RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS CHAMPIONSHIP

A pair of teams ranked in Canada’s top ten, plus two more with more modest national rankings, have been made the top seeds in the draw announced today for CurlManitoba’s RME Women of the Rings Championship presented by Case IH.

Kate Cameron’s Heather team, currently #7 on the Canadian Team Ranking System list, is the #1 seed in the minds of the competing teams in the championship. The event takes place January 21-26, 2025 in Pilot Mound’s Millennium Recreation Complex. CTRS #8 Beth Peterson (Assiniboine Memorial), Manitoba Curling Tour champion, CTRS #26 Kristy Watling (East St. Paul), and CTRS #31 Lisa McLeod (Pembina) are seeds #2, #3 and #4 respectively.

Team rosters and season highlights for the top four:

SEED #1: Kate Cameron – Heather (Taylor McDonald, Allison Flaxey, Mackenzie Elias, Brianna Cullen) – playing a mostly out-of-province schedule, the CTRS #7 team had finalist finishes in a pair of early season Alberta events, reached the semifinals of two others, and qualified for the playoffs at the DEKALB SuperSpiel (Morris).

SEED #2: Beth Peterson – Assiniboine Memorial (Kelsey Calvert, Katherine Remillard, Melissa Gordon Kurz, Meghan Walter, Coach Kyle Kurz) – the CTRS #8 team qualified in three out-of-province events, reached the final in a pair of MCT events, and won the recent MCT Championship playoff.

SEED #3: Kristy Watling – East St. Paul (Laura Burtnyk, Emily Deschenes, Sarah Pyke, Coach Tom Clasper) – the CTRS #26 team was a semi-finalist finish at DEKALB SuperSpiel, MCT Atkins Classic, and qualified for the playoffs at the MCT Championship.

SEED #4: Lisa McLeod – Pembina (Christine MacKay, Victoria Beaudry, Jolene Callum, Jennifer Clark-Rouire, Coach Lyall Hudson) – the CTRS #31 team had one win and 3 semi-finalist finishes in MCT events, including the MCT Championship.

The 12-team field includes two more teams from Assiniboine Memorial (Rachel Kaatz, Darcy Robertson) as well as a pair of teams from the Granite (Sarah-Jane Sass, Lane Prokopowich). A second team from the Heather (Cassidy Dundas) completes the Winnipeg club competitors list. Rural Manitoba clubs represented include Carberry (Alyssa Calvert), Manitou (Cheyenne Ehnes), and Neepawa (Hailey McFarlane).

Joining the list of Manitoba Women’s championship host communities for the first time, with a population of about 675, Pilot Mound also becomes the smallest community to host a Manitoba Men’s or Women’s arena curling championship event.

The champion will wear CurlManitoba’s crest at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts February 14-23, 2025 in Thunder Bay. They will join Manitoba teams skipped by Kerri Einarson and Kaitlyn Lawes who pre-qualified for the Canadian Championship.

CurlManitoba will continue its past policy of livestreaming one game on each draw in Pilot Mound. Curling fans unable to attend in person will find the broadcasts on the CurlManitoba YouTube channel.

TEAM LAWES #1 SEED IN EAST ST. PAUL SCOTTIES

(Curl Manitoba Release) CurlManitoba has announced the top five seeds for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by Rocky Mountain Equipment which will be played January 24-29 at East St. Paul. The seeding of the draw is done by the curlers with the some weighting for each team’s CTRS rankings.

The host East St. Paul Curling Club has three teams representing them in the championship and two of those teams have been ranked in the event’s top five.

Including CTRS #1, Kerri Einarson and her Gimli Team Canada, Manitoba has three teams in the CTRS top five and four in the CTRS top ten teams in Canada. Not surprisingly the three are the top three teams in the draw seeding. Team Canada earned an automatic berth in this year’s national Scotties by winning a year ago.

The top three seeds go slightly against traditional patterns where the defending champion team has often been accorded the first seed.

Seed #1: Representing Fort Rouge CC: Kaitlyn Lawes (Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin MacCuish, Jill Officer) – With a very brief pause for the birth of Kaitlyn Lawes’ baby, the team has focussed this season on the week at East St. Paul. All former champions, their season has justified the top seed position. They have qualified in nine events, reached the final three times and won two championships in their first season together. They are currently ranked CTRS #4. They qualified as the November 2022 CTRS leader.

Seed #2: Representing St. Vital CC/Altona CC: Jennifer Jones (Karlee Burgess, Mackenzie Zacharias, Emily Zacharias, Lauren Lenentine) – Currently ranked CTRS #3, the defending champion Mackenzie Zacharias team has added the many times Manitoba and Canadian champion Jennifer Jones to the roster. The season’s performance also includes qualifying in nine events with two final appearances and two championships. They hold the defending champion’s berth.

Seed #3: Representing East St. Paul CC: Abby Ackland (Meghan Walter, Sara Oliver, Mackenzie Elias, Kaitlyn Jones) – The top seed among a talented group of highly regarded aspiring young teams, they are currently ranked CTRS #8. Their season performance includes a championship and a finalist finish in tour events along with a finalist finish in the CurlManitoba berth bonspiel. They are a Manitoba Curling Tour Points qualifier for the Scotties.

The 4th and 5th seeds are the other two Manitoba teams currently in the CTRS top 25. In ranking these two, their fellow competitors have acknowledged the past Scotties championships as a consideration. 

Seed #4: Representing East St. Paul CC: Chelsea Carey (Jolene Campbell, Liz Fyfe, Rachel Erickson) are currently ranked CTRS #25, qualifying in 2 events this season. A former Manitoba champion and a twice Canadian champion from Alberta, Chelsea Carey returns to Manitoba and the Carey-Peters partnership evokes the success of their fathers curling together as Manitoba Men’s champions in the 90’s. They were untested in qualifying through the CurlManitoba Winnipeg regional playoff.

Seed #5: Representing Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club: Beth Peterson (Jenna Loder, Katherine Doerksen, Melissa Gordon, Robyn Njegovan) –They are currently ranked CTRS #21, the Peterson team qualified twice this season and reached the semi-final once. Three members of the team (Peterson, Loder, Doerksen) were impressive in a 2021 national Scotties Wild Card appearance which saw them finish with a 7W-5L record, one placement out of the playoffs. While playing a lesser schedule than the more high profile teams above them, they are a strong aspiring Manitoba team. They qualified by winning the CurlManitoba berth bonspiel.

The draw for the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME is available now at curlmanitoba.org.

The remaining teams in the competition, listed alphabetically are:

WINNIPEG:  Grace Beaudry (St. Vital)
WESTMAN: Alyssa Calvert (Carberry)
WINNIPEG: Emma Jensen (Heather)
WINNIPEG:  Katy Lukowich (Granite)
MCT Champion: Lisa McLeod (Portage)
WINNIPEG:  Darcy Robertson (AMCC)
2021-22 Season CTRS: Kristy Watling (East St. Paul)

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

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.