Team Beaudry makes the most of U18 Championship experience

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2023 (1291 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Grace Beaudry and her new teammates have been making the most of their trip to the Canadian U18 Curling Championships in Timmins, Ont.

The 18-year-old St. Vital skip’s squad qualified for the girls playoffs with a 4-2 round-robin record in the 21-team field before dropping a 6-4 decision to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cailey Locke in Thursday’s knockout round.

Beaudry rebounded with a 7-2 triumph over Northern Ontario’s Claire Dubinsky in Friday’s afternoon consolation action and will face Quebec’s Jolianne Fortin in Saturday morning’s ninth-place game.

Beaudry, who qualified for nationals by virtue of finishing second to Altona’s Dayna Wahl at U18 provincials, was joined by third Cassidy Dundas, 17-year-old from Onanole, second Lauren Evason, a 16-year-old from St. Adolphe and lead Tessa Terrick, a 17-year-old from McCreary.

The crew was assembled by putting together younger players from teams on which teammates had aged out of the U18 division.

“I didn’t have a huge expectation going into this week,” said Beaudry by phone. “I was thinking I wanted to play well and that was my only goal and making playoffs was the second goal and that was awesome getting there. Even if we didn’t win it was nice — just getting to make it this far and know that we can hang in there with everyone else who plays together all the time.”

Wahl, whose team includes lead Gilliam Hildebrand, second Anna Marie Ginters and third Piper Stoesz, finished the round-robin portion of the event at 1-5 and did not qualify for the playoffs.

“This is our fourth event together this year and we don’t all live in the city or near each other, so we’ve only had one practice,” added Beaudry. “It’s been a bit difficult in that way, but I feel like we’ve played enough where we know each other pretty well now and it’s going pretty well for us.”

Beaudry, whose regular team includes lead Mackenzie Arbuckle, second Madelyn Hollins, third Emily Ogg and fifth Julia Millan, is also slated to participate as the provincial runner-up at the Canadian Junior (U21) Curling Championships, slated for March 25-April 2 in Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

They will be joined at nationals by skip Zoey Terrick’s crew, which also includes lead Tessa Terrick, second Jensen Letham, third Jaycee Terrick and fifth Cassidy Dundas.

In boys playoff action, Virden’s Jace Freeman was eliminated from title contention with a 7-3 quarterfinal loss to Alberta’s Zachary Davis Friday morning.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

Freeman, who completed the round robin with a 4-2 mark, rebounded with a 7-1 win over P.E.I.’s Brayden Snow Friday afternoon and will face Alberta’s Jaxon Hiebert in a Saturday morning’s consolation showdown.

The Freeman team also consists of lead Rylan Graham, second Jack Steski and Elias Huminicki.

Manitoba’s other boys team, skipped by Heather’s Ronan Peterson, completed the round robin with a 3-3 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Peterson’s team also included third Nick Senff, second Roan Hunker and lead Nathan Kelly.

— staff