The reigning President’s Cup champions turned back the hands of time to beat the youngest rink at the St. Albert Ladies Bonspiel in Sunday’s final.
Skip Lauren Jenkyns, third Kathy Piper, second Laurie Conrad and lead Christina Monk persevered to win 5-3 against the U18 Alberta Pandas, skipped by Abby Marks of St. Albert.
“They seem to be more serious out there than when we’re playing the club teams,” Jenkyns said of the Marks’ lineup of three high school students and a first-year university student. “But I remember when I was the young team and I’m not that young team any more so it’s kind of cool to see these up and comers coming up.”
Marks, third Paige Papley, second Jamie Scott and lead Brittany Brezinski relished the opportunity to curl against older competition before the U18 Optimist provincials start Thursday in Leduc.
The Pandas pulled off wins against the Donnelly, Lewicki and Merryweather teams in pool play for a berth in the A semifinals against the Day rink en route to the final of the 16-team bonspiel.
“Definitely it was really nice to get in some games to make sure we’re ready,” Marks said. “They all gave us really good games so it was really nice to play them.
“It was really fun. It’s kind of nice to not always play in (U18 or U21) junior bonspiels.”
The final started with Jenkyns blanking the first end before settling for one in two as Marks kept putting rocks in play in both ends.
A blank in three by Marks was followed by a draw for two in four.
The turning point was the fifth end “when I missed my shot to give up three,” Marks said of her last throw and Jenkyns poised to score multiple points.
The last shot for Jenkyns in five was a draw for three to make it 4-2.
Marks was held to one in six and Jenkyns matched the point in seven before running the Pandas out of rocks in eight.
“It was a pretty good game. We made some good shots but there were shots that we missed and that’s ultimately why we didn’t win,” Marks said. “I’m really proud of my team. We did really well.”
The St. Albert Curling Club’s perennial league playoff winners needed a few ends to get their wheels rolling against the pumped-up Pandas.
“It was tough at the start. We were just a little bit off,” Jenkyns said. “Both teams were kind of playing it open so the fact that we were just making half shots at the start there didn’t matter as much because we would roll out and they would draw in and we would roll out and they would draw in so it gave us a chance to warm up and actually start making some shots.
“We shaped up and we were able to pull it off.”
Jenkyns slid past the Bowen, Convey and Monk teams in their pool before knocking off the Scott rink in the A semifinals.
“It was good. We were out there just having fun,” Jenkyns said of the last bonspiel before the President’s Cup playoffs start for the top rink in the Wednesday night ladies’ league. “We like how we’re playing. We’re all clicking pretty good. There is no real complaints at this point so we’re set for another playoff round.”
The only blemish so far this season was two early losses in the double-knockout Alberta Travelers Curling Club Championships in October at Grande Prairie.
It was the third provincial qualifier for the national Travelers in four years for Jenkyns, Piper and Conrad, winners of the 2013 provincials with Diana Backer on the team, and the second for lead Cindy Bobowik.
“It was unfortunate but there is always next year. We’ll give it another go so we’ll do what we can and if we come up short we come up short,” Jenkyns said.
Last year’s President’s Cup, which also serves as the club qualifier for the Travelers’ northern playdowns, was the mindboggling 10th in a row for Piper and Conrad, the fifth for Jenkyns and the third for Bobowik in the ladies’ division and as the St. Albert reps at the 2016 Edmonton and area Tournament of Champions they finished 2-2 as semifinalists.
Monk has rejoined the rink she used to skip to numerous President’s Cup triumphs.
“She was saying that it’s tough coming back after three years without curling that much but I think she is just playing fine. She is a great sweeper to have for sure,” said Jenkyns, who skipped the St. Albert squad to victory at the 2014 Tournament of Champions and a berth in the 2015 final.
Up next for the Pandas is the U18 provincials for a shot at the April 18 to 22 nationals in Moncton, N.B.
Marks is the northern B rep after losing the A final 7-2 to Emily Clark of St. Albert last month at the Crestwood.
Clark, third Emily Deibert, second Kennedy Tralnberg and lead Gabriella Rocque were last year’s U18 provincial finalists.
The Pandas hone their skills at the Saville Centre.
“We started practicing in July and we end in the middle of April,” said Marks, who has curled with Papley, a Grade 12 Beaumont student, for three years, while Scott, a Grade 11 Harry Ainley student, and Brezinski came on board this season. “We practice Tuesdays and Thursdays and probably have a tournament every second weekend,”
Marks started curling in St. Albert at the age of eight so the weekend bonspiel was sort of a homecoming for the Grade 12 Ecole Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville student.
“It’s really nice to be back,” Marks said “It’s kind of weird playing here again because I haven’t actually played here for like three years.”
