Local curlers advance to provincials

By Lucas Punkari
Staff Writer

A pair of curling rinks with local ties punched their tickets to the Northern Ontario junior provincial playdowns, which takes place next month in Sioux Lookout, after their performances in regional playdowns over the weekend.
Jessica Haw and her rink from Stratton earned their berth by finishing in a tie for first place with a 4-1 record at the Region 1 playdowns at the Keewatin Curling Club, while Tirzah Keffer, who is from Fort Frances and is currently attending school in Thunder Bay, finished a tie for first with a 4-1 mark at the Region 2 playdowns at the Fort William Curling Club in the Lakehead.
Haw, who is joined on her team by vice Kaylee Heyens, second Maria Vandenbrand, and lead Myan Miller, was tied with Kaitlyn Porter of Sioux Lookout in the final standings, which allowed both of them to qualify for the provincial playdowns.

Porter was the only team to defeat Haw during the course of the weekend, as they took a 9-4 victory on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Keffer’s rink, which includes third Sheree Hinz, second Page Rubenick, and lead Rachel Camlin, ended up in a tie for first place with fellow Thunder Bay curler Karlee Jones, giving both the teams the opportunity to advance to the provincials.

Keffer’s lone loss came to Jones on Sunday morning by a scant 6-5 margin.

Both Haw and Keffer will be joined six other rinks at the provincial championships in Sioux Lookout from January 5-8, with the winner earning a berth at the M&M Meat Shops Junior National Championships in February.
That event will be held in Napanee, Ont. from February 4-12.