Burgess makes history
Hilden native captures record third Canadian junior women’s crown
TRURO, N.S. – Hilden's Karlee Burgess has made Canadian junior curling history.
The third for Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias rink earned her third Canadian title on Sunday when Team Manitoba defeated Alberta's Abby Marks 10-3 in the final of the Canadian junior women's curling championship in Langley, B.C.
Manitoba, which went 10-0 in round-robin play, broke open a close championship match with a four-spot in the eighth end. After Zacharias stole two more in the ninth, the skips shook hands and the rink of Zacharias, Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine of Altona Curling Club were crowned national champs.
Burgess becomes the first junior women's curler with three national championships. She also captured Canadian titles as the third for Mary Fay (2016) and Kaitlyn Jones (2018).
“I’ve been super lucky to have teammates who put in the work and want to win,” Burgess, a kinesiology student at the University of Manitoba, said in a news release. She also has a Youth Olympics gold medal to her credit (2016) along with two Canadian Juniors bronze medals (2014, 2019).
“I’ve just been really fortunate to have girls beside me who have the same work ethic as I do. To be right here, right now, I can’t say thank you enough to the girls I’ve curled with this year.”
The 2020 world junior curling championships begin Feb. 15 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
On Saturday, Burgess was named a first-team all-star at third, joining teammates Zacharias (skip) and Lenentine (lead).
Alberta, the 2019 champion, advanced to the national final after upending Nova Scotia’s Taylour Stevens 6-5 in 11 ends in Saturday's semifinal. Nova Scotia took bronze.
The Stevens rink included Lindsey Burgess of Truro, who earned the Ken Watson Sportsmanship Award, as voted by the players. Lindsey, who is Karlee's cousin, also played on the 2018 Kaitlyn Jones team that captured national and world junior championships.