Ailing Carter bounces back for B.C.

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This article was published 24/02/2012 (5167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RED DEER, Alta. — Ashern’s Sasha Carter authored one of the more memorable comebacks in Scotties Tournament of Hearts history on Thursday.

One day after she was lying in a hospital with an intravenous in her arm, Carter returned to the ice as third for B.C.’s Kelly Scott Thursday morning in a critical 8-5 win over P.E.I.

That would be notable all by itself, given the agonies Carter has suffered this week with a vicious stomach bug that has affected a string of players but none worse or longer than Carter, who was the first to get ill Monday night.

But there’s more. Carter shot a blistering 94 per cent in her comeback against P.E.I., one of the highest- percentage games by any player this week.

And finally, oh yeah, did we mention that Carter is three months pregnant right now.

And it was that fact — that Carter’s pregnant — that was the problem delaying her recovery, she said after the win over P.E.I. “(The doctors) said I couldn’t kick it because everything I was taking in was having to work for someone else, and that was the difference,” said Carter. “I couldn’t get hydrated no matter what I drank. I’ve never been that sick in my life.”

After not eating for three days, Carter said she was famished once she started feeling better and went to a favourite comfort food — a McDonald’s cheeseburger.

— — —

Saskatchewan made some unfortunate history Thursday afternoon, becoming just the 10th team in history to give up five consecutive steals at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Leading N.W.T.’s Kerry Galusha 4-2 Thursday afternoon skip Michelle Englot gave up steals of one in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth ends in a row to lose 7-4 and eliminate her team.

To her everlasting credit, Englot emerged from the ice and did not attempt to varnish over what had just occurred. “It’s a competitive sport,” Englot told reporters, “and it’s not fair to any of the other teams to play like we did (this afternoon).”

Englot was bewildered by how things went so badly, so quickly for her team. “I can’t explain it,” said Englot. “I thought we’d had a really strong week until the end. I wish I knew what went wrong because maybe we could have turned it around.”

— — —

They started on a blistering pace — and finished really strong too.

It was just everything in the middle that resulted in what was yet another disappointing 4-7 finish for the Territories here at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Territories skip Kerry Galusha made no secret of her disappointment on Thursday as she reflected on a week that saw her team take a wild roller-coaster ride through this event.

“I’m not going to lie, we had high hopes,” said Galusha.

They had reason to be optimistic. Galusha won a car lease in the pre-event individual skills competition and then her team stormed out of the gate, winning their first two out of three games, including on the opening draw against local favourites Alberta.

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And then they finished on a torrid pace on Thursday, defeating Team Canada’s Amber Holland on the morning draw and Saskatchewan’s Michelle Englot on the afternoon draw.

The problem was those four wins was all they could muster in a week in which several Territories players, including Galusha, fell ill.

“This was the hardest I’ve ever worked to come here,” lamented Galusha, “and then Wendy got the flu, I got the flu — it was just bad timing. It was just too bad.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca