Silver sweepers
Truro curlers enjoy strong run at national masters championship
Karen Hennigar and Jill Linquist are Canadian masters curling silver medallists.
The Truro residents were members of Marg Cutcliffe’s Nova Scotia foursome, which finished second at the 12-team national event in Kentville and Wolfville.
“It’s very, very nice,” said Hennigar. “With the new team we had this year, if you told us we were going to be in the goldmedal game at the end of the week at a Canadian championship, we’d say, ‘wow.’ There were 10 other teams there that would have loved to have been in that position, so we were very happy.”
Hennigar threw third stones and Linquist played lead. Gail Hayes was the team’s second.
Nova Scotia lost 6-3 to Saskatchewan’s Merle Kopach in the gold-medal game on Sunday in Wolfville.
Cutcliffe went 3-2 in preliminary play and was 6-3 after championship pool action to earn one of fourth medal-round berths. Nova Scotia defeated New Brunswick 8-3 in a semifinal to advance to the final.
“We had really great chemistry on the team,” said Linquist. “It was wonderful camaraderie off the ice, as well. It was a great time.”
In the final, Cutcliffe led 3-2 after five ends, before Kopach scored three in the sixth and stole one in the seventh before running Nova Scotia out of rocks in the eighth.
“They outplayed us,” said Hennigar. “They played really well; they deserved it.”
Hennigar said the team was “very proud” of its silver medal, considering it was their first year playing together. “It was also one of the most competitive fields at the national masters in recent memory.
In men’s action, Nova Scotia’s Steve Ogden finished with a 6-4 record and failed to advance to the medal round. Other members of the Ogden foursome were third Brad Meisner, second Peter Neily, of Truro, and lead James Barr, of Stewiacke.
Alberta’s Ed Lukowich defeated Ontario’s Bruce Delaney in the gold-medal game.