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Tim Smith / Brandon Sun Archives Shannon Birchard of St. Vital took apart Ontario. (TIM SMITH/BRANDON SUN)

Birchard remains unbeaten

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. -- Manitoba's Shannon Birchard defeated Ontario's Jamie Sinclair 8-3 on Monday morning to remain unbeaten at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior curling championships.

Birchard stormed out to an 8-1 lead and needed only eight ends to complete the victory. She leads the women's standings after five draws at 4-0.

"We played really well, the team played great," said Birchard. "It was a big game, especially to get that first-place spot in our pool so far.

"Hopefully we can keep that going in the rest of our round-robin games. It's definitely a big boost of confidence."

Birchard puts her perfect record on the line against the Northwest Territories at noon today.

In men's play, Manitoba's Matt Dunstone fell to 3-2 after a 4-3 loss to Nova Scotia in the sixth draw. Dunstone defeated Quebec 8-2 earlier Monday.

"It's the best game we've played all year," Dunstone said after the morning victory. "The guys didn't miss anything."

New Brunswick's Josh Barry, who Dunstone will play next tonight at 5 p.m., is a perfect 5-0 at the top of the men's standings heading into today's action.

Nikolic, Brenton star for Wesmen

WOMEN'S volleyball player Ozana Nikolic and men's wrestler Briston Brenton have been named the University of Winnipeg Wesmen athletes of the week.

Nikolic had 49 kills, 26 digs, three assists and two blocks in a pair of home-court losses to the UBC-Okanagan Heat.

Brenton, a first-year-athlete, won gold in the 82-kilogram weight class over the weekend at the Wesmen Invitational Wrestling Tournament. Brenton won all three of his matches and was named most outstanding male wrestler.

Hawks' Keen lights up scoreboard

A 10-point outburst in three games has resulted in forward Lauryn Keen of the Pembina Valley Hawks being selected as the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League's player of the week.

Keen scored seven goals and had three assists in three wins last weekend to help the Hawks secure first place in the AAA standings. Keen, a Grade 11 student from Manitou, is the league scoring leader with 59 points.

Penner, Kowalczuk top guns

IN the Winnipeg Women's High School Hockey League, the Winnipeg Free Press Division B player of the week is Kailey Penner of the Beliveau Barracudas, while the CTV Division A player is Mackenzie Kowalczuk of the Dakota Lancers.

Kowalczuk scored two goals in an 8-0 shutout of the Sanford Sabres last Thursday and picked up an assist Friday in a 4-1 win over the West Kildonan Wolverines.

Northern Stars led by Lee

LED by three points from Danielle Lee, the Northern Stars won the 2013 Manitoba Women's Junior Hockey League's Lieutenant Governor's Tournament on Sunday.

Lee scored two goals and had an assist in the Stars' 6-3 win over the Prairie Blaze in the gold-medal game at the MTS Iceplex. Bronze was won by the Manitoba Blizzard.

Kerri Donaldson also scored a pair of goals for the Stars, with a single from Maggie Girard. Janelle Chartrand of the Blaze had two assists.

-- staff / The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 5, 2013 C7