Good start for N.L. In national junior men’s curling
Preliminary-round play underway in Langley, B.C.
Daniel Bruce and his St. John’s-based rink had a strong start at the New Holland Canadian junior curling championship in Langley, B.C., over the weekend, winning two games against western teams.
Bruce, third Ryan Mcneil Lamswood, second Joel Krats and lead Nathan King began with an 8-5 win over Alberta on Saturday and followed up with a 7-6 extra-end victory over one of two British Columbia entries, scoring the winning point on an 11th-end steal.
Comprised of Memorial University students, the rink curls out of the Re/max Centre in St. John’s, but all its members are from other areas of the province. Mcneil Lamswood, who is competing in his fifth national junior championship, is from Stephenville; Bruce and King, in their third Canadian juniors ,are from Corner Brook; and Krats is from Labrador City by way of Gander.
The team had a game against Ontario late Sunday.
The national junior championship also involves a women’s division, where Mackenzie Mitchell’s Newfoundland and Labrador rink, also out of the Re/max Centre, was 1-1 heading into a game against B.C. Sunday night.
Mitchell, a Memorial University student from Corner Brook, Katie Follett, Sarah Chaytor and Claire Hartlen lost 6-4 to Alberta in their opening game, but bounced back to beat the Northwest Territories 6-3.
The Mitchell rink faces Ontario today, while Bruce and Co. takes on NWT.
There are 14 teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions in Langley, In each case, they are divided into two seven-team pools for preliminary play. The top four finishers in each preliminary poll advance to the championship pool, taking their records with them. Play in the championship pool will determine the four medalround contenders.