The excitement was brimming as the Sandra Gallaway team made the drive to the March 1-4 BC Provincial Masters Curling Championships in Grand Forks.
Opening ceremonies took place March 1 and the competition began with teams from Kamloops, Nanaimo, Quesnel, Duncan and Comox competing in the women’s round-robin matches. The top eight master (60+) menʼs and womenʼs teams competed in pools of four, with the top two in each pool advancing to the semifinals.
Mel Lungle, Region 1 director (Grand Forks, Trail, Naskup and Nelson) for Curl BC, stated, “We have some very, very good curlers here and some curlers who are here have an excellent resumé of what theyʼve done in the past and thereʼs some superb curling.” Lungle pointed out the curlers are so good that anybody could win at any time.
The four-day competition saw Gallaway’s team of third Mary Holden, second Mary Ellen Werner and lead Elaine Starchuk complete the round robin matches in the top two positions in Pool A. The semifinals Sunday morning had Gallaway, who was first in Pool A, play the Skinner rink who was second in Pool B.
The team’s mojo was running low on this early morning draw and the Skinner rink from the Summerland Curling Club defeated the Comox Valley quartet 7-4 at the end of seven rounds. Skinner went on to win the BC Masters title in a tight 6-4 match over the Bird rink from Kelowna.
The 2012/13 Provincial BC Masters will be hosted by the Cowichan Lake Regional Curling Club, a four-sheet curling facility known as Cowichan Rocks. “With next year’s competition just down Island, Sandra said she’s not about to hang up her curling shoes any time soon,” a Comox Valley Curling Club spokesperson said.
The Gallaway team would like to acknowledge their sponsor RBC Financial Group of the Comox Valley for their funding and team jackets. The CVCC and members, Curl BC, Quality Foods and Curves were also very supportive in helping the team with expenses and the team extend a huge ‘thank you’ to all, the spokesperson said.
– Comox Valley Curling Club
