Morning Star Staff
Vernon will have three rinks in the 2015 Tim Hortons B.C. Junior Curling Championships, Dec. 28-Jan. 3 in Parksville.
Matt Schiman, who competed in the provincials last year, returns with third Jesse Monette, second Ben Morin and lead Adam Raber.
Schiman took the A qualifier at the Okanagan playdowns in Penticton, stopping Jahred Dables of Kamloops 9-4 and edging Steven Schafthuzien of Kamloops 8-7 Saturday.
Thomas Love of Vernon gained the second provincial berth by winning three straight games after losing 6-5 to Schafthuzien.
Supported by third Erik Colwell and front-enders Brendan Chapple and Johnathan Schwartz, Team Love doubled Dables 10-5, ambushed Matt Stubban of Penticton 19-3 and grounded Schafthuzien 9-4. There was a field of five.
On the women’s side, Cierra Fisher qualified second at the playdowns in Penticton, stopping Lorelei Guidos of Salmon Arm 7-6 and 14-6 after losing 10-2 to Corryn Brown of Kamloops.
Fisher has Sydney Hofer at third, Kylie Tokairin at second and Jaelyn Cotter (daughter of Brier veteran Jim Cotter) at lead.
The men’s and women’s finals will be televised on Sportsnet on January.
Cody Tanaka of Abbotsford returns to the B.C. championships after defeating Team Horvath – a foursome which contained two 2014 gold medallists – in the A Event at the Fraser Valley playdowns.
Paul Henderson of Victoria, Connor Croteau of Victoria/Juan de Fuca, Brayden Carpenter of Royal City in New Westminster, Zane Bartlett of Grand Forks and Jonathan Loeppky of Prince Rupert also qualified.
The junior women’s draw contains several familiar faces, including members of all three medal winning teams from last year.
Team Daniels, who qualified in the Coastal A Event, is made up of three gold medallists from the 2014 provincials.
Skip Sarah Daniels, third Marika Van Osch and lead Megan Daniels will be hoping to repeat last year’s success alongside their new teammate Dezaray Hawes (Second).
The 2013 Canadian junior champion Team Brown has the same roster that won the national title two years ago and took silver at the 2014 B.C. junior. Third is Erin Pincott, second is Samantha Fisher and lead is Sydney Fraser.
Shawna Jensen, who was a bronze medallist in 2014, will this year skip a team made up of curlers from three different locations – Powell River Curling Club, Juan de Fuca Curling Centre and Delta Thistle Curling Club.
Jensen will be joined by third Katherine Silversides, second Michaela Douglas and lead Rebecca Douglas.
Mariah Coulombe of Victoria, Kirsten Zucchet, of Chilliwack Briana Egan of Coquitlam Alyssa Connell of Prince George round out the field.
Meanwhile, Jim Cotter was 0-3 going into Thursday afternoon play against two-time Canadian champion Kevin Koe of Calgary at the 11th Home Hardware $140,000 Canada Cup in Camrose.
Cotter opened the seven-rink event at the Encana Arena Wednesday afternoon by losing 7-4 to former teammate John Morris of Calgary.
Cotter dropped an 8-4 decision to Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. (eight ends) Wednesday night and then fell 9-4 to Mike McEwen of Winnipeg.
The Vernon foursome – with Ryan Kuhn at third, Tyrel Griffith at second and Rick Sawatsky at lead – were leading Koe 4-2 after five ends with deuces in two and five Thursday afternoon. They finish the round-robin today versus 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L and four-time Brier and world champ Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont. McEwen was 3-0 heading into the Thursday matinee draw.
The teams were determined by the Order of Merit ranking at the end of the 2013-14 season.
In the women’s field are Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, two-time Canadian champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Saskatoon’s Sherry Anderson (skipping Stefanie Lawton’s team while the skip takes care of her newborn son), 2013 Olympic trials runner-up Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Heather Nedohin of Sherwood Park, 2014 Scotties runner-up Val Sweeting of Edmonton and 2014 Ontario champ Alli Flaxey.
Homan was leading the pack at 3-0 at press time Thursday after clipping Nedohin 5-4 Thursday morning. Homan earlier iced Flaxey 11-3 and toppled Middaugh 7-4.
The teams are also vying for berths in the 2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup from Jan. 8-11 in Calgary and the Road to the Roar Olympic pre-trials in 2017.
