Barker rink primed to defend provincial title
Nine rinks vie for provincial title and shot at national championship
Curlers will be looking to shoot the lights out at Melfort’s Northern Lights Palace when the 2018 Viterra Scotties provincial women’s curling championship is played Jan. 2-7.
A total of nine teams will be vying for a chance to represent Saskatchewan at the national Scotties in Penticton, B.C., with defending provincial champion Penny Barker from Moose Jaw seeded No. 1 by fellow Saskatchewan competitors.
Here are five things to know as curlers from across Saskatchewan prepare for their crack at a national berth.
DEFENDING CHAMP BARKER RANKED NO. 1
A year ago, Penny Barker and her foursome out of the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre defeated North Battleford’s Robyn Silvernagle to capture the provincial title in Melville.
The 2017 year has been a good one for skip Penny Barker, third Deanna Doig, second Lorraine Schneider and lead Danielle Sicinski, having won both the Regina Callie Saskatchewan Women’s Curling Tour (SWCT) Spiel and the DEKALB Superspiel in Morris, Man. Barker and company also made a finals appearance at the Medicine Hat Women’s Charity Classic.
The defending provincial champs — picked as the No. 1 Saskatchewan team through the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) — will be looking to keep their winning season alive in Melfort.
ROUNDING OUT THE VITERRA FIELD
Regina Calle’s Chantelle Eberle comes into Melfort seeded No. 2, followed by Silvernagle at No. 3.
Eberle’s new-look rink features Christie Gamble at third and Haylee Jameson at lead along with holdover Larisa Murray at second. Team Eberle won the second SWCT spiel of the season at the Regina Highland and earned its Viterra Scotties berth through CTRS points after qualifying for the playoffs in five out of six events.
Silvernagle, a finalist in 2017, has added veteran skip Jolene Campbell, who represented Saskatchewan at the Scotties two years ago, at third. Dayna Demers has moved down to second. Team Silvernagle is coming off a big win at the Lloydminster Boundary Ford Classic at the end of November.
Rounding out the field are No. 4 seed Ashley Howard of Kronau, No. 5 Candace Chisholm of Carlyle, No. 6 Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon Nutana, No. 7 Amber Holland of Regina Callie, No. 8 Sherry Anderson of Saskatoon Nutana and No. 9 Nancy Martin, also of Saskatoon Nutana.
SASKATOON’S HOPES
Lawton’s Saskatoon team picked up the final berth at the Viterra women’s Last Chance event Dec. 15-17 in Estevan. Lawton has former teammate Stephanie Schmidt back in the fold together with a brand-new front end consisting of Cristina Goertzen and Canadian university champion Brooklyn Lemon. Team Lawton qualified in two out of the four events played on tour, including the Grand Slam of Curling Challenge Tier 2 in Regina, as well a third-place finish at the Saskatoon Nutana’s SWCT event.
Lawton lost in the Viterra provincial final two years ago and also advanced to last year’s Viterra provincials out of the B-event at the last-chance spiel.
Anderson, who has had a long string of provincial appearances, earned a provincial berth by claiming the second spot at the Viterra Challenge Spiel. Second Krista Fesser, who was part of Team Anderson a year ago, third Kourtney Fesser and lead Karlee Korchinski, each have a combined two junior provincial championships to their names.
After making a great run a year ago in Melville and claiming its first SWCT bonspiel of the season in Saskatoon, Team Martin is back but not intact. Martin, who will be competing with teammate Catlin Schneider at the mixed doubles curling trials in Portage la Prairie, Man., will be replaced by Taryn Holtby in Melfort.
OUT ON THE TOUR
The top Saskatchewan money winners on the World Curling Tour this season are Barker and Silvernagle, who are ranked No. 30 overall with $10,700 each.
Next is Weyburn’s Chisholm in 51st place at $5,500.
Saskatoon’s Lawton and Martin sit tied at No. 66 on the WCT money list with $3,500 apiece.
Anderson is listed tied for No. 91 at $2,000.
Lawton captured the provincial crown as a skip in 2005, 2009, 2014 and 2015.
Anderson, who would later play third with Lawton before going on her own again in recent years, skipped teams to titles in 1994, 1995, 2002 and 2004.
THE 2018 VITERRA DRAW
The championship is set up as one-pool round robin.
Action commences Tuesday, Jan. 2 with two opening-day draws at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. They’ll play Wednesday, Jan.
3 at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 4 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 and 7 p.m.
The semifinal goes Sunday, Jan. 7 at noon, and the final at 5 p.m.
The winner of that final advances to the Canadian championship Jan. 27-Feb. 4 in Penticton, B.C.