A rink of local high school curlers has qualified for the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association Provincial Mixed Championship that will be played at the Meadow Lake Curling Club this weekend.
The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs mixed curling team earned the provincial berth by winning gold at the district championships held at the Weyburn Curling Club Feb. 23 before taking the top spot at the regional championships at the Fort Qu'Appelle Curling Club on Friday and Saturday. The Elecs rink, which includes skip Kyle Johnson, third Rachel Kramer, second Lucas Wallewein, lead Caitlyn Green and coach Brittnay Wilhelm, won all three games they played at districts qualifying them for the regional championship.
Team Johnson began regionals with an 8-3 win over the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute rink and a 9-7 victory against a Regina Thom Collegiate team on Friday. The rink then defeated a team from Churchbridge Public School 11-7 on Saturday morning to earn one of the two provincial berths that were up for grabs. Churchbridge secured the second provincial spot with a 2-1 record.
“They had to fight back in a few of those,” said Angela Johnson, who co-ordinates the team's activities between the school and the Estevan Curling Club. “In the last game they were down. The (Churchbridge) team got five on them and then they fought back.”
The Elecs begin provincial play early Friday morning with a Pool A game against the hometown Carpenter High School team. The rink then faces a team from Hodgeville School before they finish up the round-robin portion of the tournament with a Friday afternoon game against Naicam School.
The top two teams out of Pool A qualify for the Saturday playoff round that will also feature two Pool B teams. Rinks from Rosetown Central High School, Debden Public School, Churchbridge Public School and the Saskatoon Walter Murray Collegiate Institute are competing for the Pool B spots.
“The top two (teams) from each region will be at provincials, so it's going to be interesting,” said Johnson. “We're hoping for a good result.”
