Championship chase underway for St. John’s rink at national juniors
Mackenzie Glynn’s team loses first game of second round, but still very much in medal contention
Mackenzie Glynn and her St. John’s rink lost their opening game Wednesday in the championship round of the Canadian women’s curling championship, but the Newfoundland and Labrador representatives are still in the thick of the chase for a medal at the Shawingan, Que., competition
Glynn and her team of Katie Follett, Sarah Chaytor and Camille Burt out of the Re/max Centre lost 5-3 to New Brunswick as the second phase of the event began. A steal of two points in the eighth end by N.B. proved to be the difference.
The result left the Dave Trickett-coached Glynn team with a 5-2 record and tied for third place in the eight-entry championship pool entering Thursday’s late draw.
It’s worth noting that while Glynn and her teammates have national experience — they were the province’s representatives at the Canadian U18 championships last year — they are rookies at the national juniors, an under-21 event.
All members of the team are 17 younger and for the most part, are facing older, experienced competitors in Shawinigan. For example, New Brunswick skip Justine Comeau is playing in her third junior nationals in the last four years.
The N.L. junior women’s team was idle Thursday night and will be back on the ice this morning to take on Quebec.
The championships began with 14 teams divided into two pools, with the four top finishers in each pool advancing to the championship round
There, the top four finishers from the B pool will play the top four from the A pool in a cross-over round-robin. At the conclusion of those games, the three teams with the best combined records — from both preliminary and championship pool games — advance to the medal round. The top finisher goes directly to Sunday’s final, while the second- and thirdplace teams meet in a Saturday semifinal.
Newfoundland’s junior men’s team out of the Corner Brook Curling Club also made it to the championship round with a 3-3 preliminary record.
Skip Daniel Bruce and rinkmates Ryan Mcneil Lamswood, Andrew Bruce and Nathan King played Nova Scotia in their first championship-pool game Wednesday night. Today, they face Manitoba.
The eventual winners of Sunday’s finals will represent Canada at the world junior championships in Aberdeen, Scotland in early March.