Michelle Englot’s streak continues in Manitoba Scotties battle

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This article was published 26/01/2017 (3412 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s no surprise that Jennifer Jones is undefeated through four games at the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

What does stand out, though, is the sheer level of dominance she’s shown, in the first half of the round robin.

The reigning Olympic champion picked up two more wins on Thursday, steamrolling Thompson’s Jennifer Briscoe and East St. Paul skip Colleen Kilgallen each by scores of 10-0. That’s 20 unanswered points in a single day.

Even for Jones, that’s an unusual piece of trivia. “It doesn’t happen very often,” Jones acknowledged, after putting away the second game. “It was one of those days where everything was going our way. Hopefully, that continues.”

While Jones was cleaning up on sheet B, other teams in her round robin group were jockeying for position. The winnters included Brandon’s Cheryl Reed, who beat Joelle Brown 11-6 to put both at 2-2 on the week.

Fourth seed Brianne Meilleur also improved her record to 3-1 with a 6-1 win over Briscoe.

Finally, an extra end thriller saw Christine MacKay, 21, get an edge over Shannon Birchard. The teams battled tight in an entertaining game; Birchard’s final draw in the extra overcurled, handing MacKay a steal of one for an 8-7 win.

That puts both former junior stars MacKay and Birchard at 2-2 on the week.

Meanwhile, could the next buffalo gal come from Saskatchewan?

That’s starting to look like a real possibility, as Michelle Englot continues to pick up steam.

Englot, a seven-time Saskatchewan champion, is now 3-0 on the week, the only team other than Jones still undefeated. She beat 2015 Manitoba junior champ Beth Peterson on Thursday, winning 7-2 in just five ends.

Now, she’s in a nice position as the round robin moves into its midway point.

“It’s always nice to get wins early, because you know everybody’s getting a feel for the ice towards the end of the week,” Englot said, after the win. “Everybody’s going to come out with stronger games as the week goes on.”

Englot, who still lives in Regina, was called in last year to skip the trio of third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson-Westcott and lead Raunora Westcott. The trio had reached the Manitoba final in 2016 with skip Kristy McDonald.

Curling residency rules allow for one member of a team to live outside the province for which they are competing.

There were no real surprises elsewhere around the 12:15 p.m. draw. Fifth seed Darcy Robertson breezed 8-2 over West Kildonan’s Meghan Armit, and rose to 2-1 on the week. (Armit is still winless through three).

Defending champion Kerri Einarson righted her ship, after a disappointing day one. Einarson suffered an upset loss on Wednesday to Dauphin’s Lisa Menard, but came back Thursday to beat Portage la Prairie’s Tiffany McLean 10-3.

“I didn’t expect to go through this thing undefeated,” Einarson said, after the win. “Last year, we had a loss right at the beginning as well. Now we know that we just have to fight hard, and our backs and pretty much against the wall.”

Rounding out that group, Cathy Overton-Clapham rode some big ends to a 8-5 win over Dauphin’s Lisa Menard. Einarson and Overton-Clapham are now both 2-1 in the standings, right in the mix of a very jam-packed group.

“Our field is tough,” Einarson said. “Everyone’s making great shots. We definitely have to be on our toes for every single game that’s coming at us. We know what it takes to win, so we definitely have to get to that level again.”

Einarson’s round robin group will return to the ice at 7:45 p.m. for the second of their two Thursday games.

The 2017 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts round robin continues through Saturday, with playoffs set to begin on Saturday night. The championship game will be played at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and will be broadcast on Sportsnet.