The Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) mixed curling team competed at the provincial playdowns in Regina over the weekend. The team of skip Kelly Somogyi, third Matricia Shwaga, second Darren Tillman, lead Amber Stachura and alternate Tara Lazurko, coached by Grant Bjornerud, claimed the bronze medal in the eight team provincial bonspiel. Bjornerud says the YRHS fours-ome played consistently all weekend against some solid competition.
The team had a good Friday, winning its first two games handily, knocking off Maidstone 10-2 and defeating Regina 7-2, Bjornerud reports. "We got the lead early and defended it well," he says.
The wins advanced the YRHS rink to the A final Friday night where they met Norquay, the other team from the East Central District (ECD). Having two of the eight teams at provincials speaks well for the ECD, Bjornerud comments.
Norquay won the game 5-2. While the YRHS team played well, they weren't able to take advantage of opportunities they were given while Norquay played very well, Bjorne-rud explains.
The Yorkton squad bounced back well to win the B final 7-5 against Debden in a game which came down to the last rock. The win advanced Yorkton to the medal round and gave them a draw off, enabling them to take a break. Some teams had to play four games Friday and four games Saturday, which took a physical toll on their games.
In the opening game of the medal round, Yorkton played the same Regina team they had beaten the day before. Regina played better Saturday while Yorkton didn't play quite as well, Bjornerud suggests. Yorkton gave up a steal of two in the sixth end, making it 6-2 going into the seventh end. YRHS couldn't get anything going in the seventh end, falling to Regina 7-3.
The loss put Team YRHS into the bronze medal game against Debden. A fairly strong game gave Yorkton a 4-2 lead. They gave up two in the seventh end to tie. Yorkton had the hammer coming home and needed their last rock to win.
Consistent play and well called games were the key to a medal winning performance, says Bjornerud. "There were times when we might have played some different shots, but that's curling at all levels. Any shot's the right shot if you make it," he declares.
Every team struggled with the exceptionally keen ice at the Callie, Bjornerud claims. It was pushing 26 seconds. That's extremely fast, he suggests. "In the games we struggled in that would have probably been our biggest problem, was finding our draw weight, hitting the house, getting our guards up, that kind of stuff," he suggests.
Two members of this team, Matricia Shwaga and Kelly Somogyi will be graduating this year. They were members of the mixed team which also won a bronze medal last year, Bjornerud mentions. The other three are all eligible to return next season. "It's nice always to have a mix where you have some Grade 12s but you also have 10s and 11s who are going to continue your program," he says.
YRHS curlers have won a gold medal and a pair of bronze medals at provincials over the last three years, Bjornerud points out in closing.
