Sherwood Park – Sunday’s final between rinks skipped by Lauren Jenkyns of St. Albert and Karynn Flory of the Avonair was a tale of two halfs at the Edmonton and area Tournament of Champions.
Jenkyns threatened to pull away leading 6-1 after three ends but Flory turned the tables on the defending women’s champion to win 9-8 in an extra end at the Glen Allen Curling Club.
“We had full control over the first half and then the Avonair had full control of the second half. That’s what it came down to,” Jenkyns said. “The first four ends we were making a lot of shots and we were confident and then around the fifth end we started to make a few errors and I think it just got to us a little bit and we had some difficulty regrouping.”
Flory, a product of the Little Rocks program at the St. Albert Curling Club, gave up a steal of three in the first end, settled for one in two and the next end watched Jenkyns, third Kathy Piper, second Laurie Schreiner and lead Cindy Bobowik roll up a three spot.
“It was a shaky start. We were all a little bit nervous but we knew what we have to do and after we were down 6-1. It was like OK, let’s just make simple shots and get our confidence back. We got back into it and you never know what can happen if you just keep persevering,” said Flory, the 2015 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference women’s curler of the year with the NAIT Ooks.
Flory, third Richelle Baer and “super spares” Sydney Lewko and Sharla Warawa at front end, with Katie Roskewich and Tegan Dutton from Flory’s ACAC championship-winning NAIT lineup unavailable for the final, buckled down for a clutch deuce in four to trail by three.
“We got right back in it with lots of game to play so we said let’s just rally through and pull it out and have fun. It’s all about having fun,” Flory said.
A steal of two in five was the TSN turning point for the 2013 Alberta junior champion.
“That was a big momentum swing for us. After we stole two, we were able to force them to one (in six) and then we took our three (in seven),” said Flory, who made the most of her last shot in seven to score multiple points to make it 8-7.
In eight Flory described Jenkyns’ last shot “as a peach” against a couple of Avonair counters to force the extra end.
The final ended without Flory having to throw her last rock after Jenkyns was light while trying to bury her rock behind cover and the Avonair laying one.
“When I released it I thought my weight was close and the sweepers, Cindy and Laurie, they were pretty casual about even starting to sweep on it,” Jenkyns said. “I think we just found a bit of a flat spot or maybe we were even thinking the ice got a little bit heavier as the two other games (men’s and mixed finals) had ended but we didn’t think it was that light so we just came up short.”
It was the fifth win without a loss at cities for the young Avonair foursome.
“I knew coming into this game it would be tough for sure. Lauren is really tough to play against and I give her huge credit,” Flory said. “It’s a little bittersweet for me obviously because I’m from St. Albert and I’m playing against the home club but it’s exciting to win it. It’s a really nice way to finish off the season on a high note. It was a really big group effort.”
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the Avonair’s team picture.
Last month, Flory and her NAIT rinkmates were awarded bronze at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championships in Olds after losing the semifinal 6-3 to the Fanshawe Falcons of London, Ont., to finish 5-3 overall. They also dropped an 8-7 decision to Fanshawe to start the round robin.
It’s the third national medal for Flory, Roskewich and Baer after receiving silver in 2013 and bronze last year.
“It was a real good week. We had one rough game (11-6 loss to Holland College of Charlottetown, PEI.) but we bounced back,” said Flory, a two-time ACAC champion who skipped her Avonair-based NAIT rink at the 2015 Alberta Scotties. “(In the semifinal) when the other team is making every shot and you just can’t quite get there it’s definitely a tough game to play. Their skip made a double on her last shot to take ours out and it just worked out in her favour.”
As for the reigning President’s Cup champions in the St. Albert playoffs – nine in a row for Piper and Schreiner, four for Jenkyns and two for Bobowik – they were drowning their sorrows during a post-game soul-searching session.
“We’re disappointed but overall we feel like we did put out a good game,” Jenkyns said. “They had to pull it together and make all their shots to get back into the game as well, it’s just too bad we were on the wrong side of the inch on a few shots.”
The team’s 4-2 record in the 12-team double-knockout draw included Saturday’s win over Laurie Knoll of Jasper Place in the semifinals after losing to Knoll in the Q1 qualifier.
“We were pretty pumped to get a second chance at them. We didn’t show up to play (in the first game). We struggled but we knew we would rebound,” said Jenkyns, who reached the semifinals with a win over Kellie Henricks of the Ellerslie in the Q3 qualifier. “Overall, we did the best we could. We were just battling with ourselves a little bit this year. We’ve been a little bit off in a lot of places that we weren’t last year so I think even rebounding (after the loss to Jasper Place) and getting to the final was pretty good. We gave it a good run.”
