Macdonell, Arbuckle to represent Manitoba at Canada Winter Games

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This article was published 28/11/2022 (1377 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in their young careers, Aaron Macdonell and Mackenzie Arbuckle have earned the right to wear the buffalo jacket.

The duo from the St. Vital Curling Club went a perfect 7-0 at Manitoba’s Canada Games Mixed Doubles Trials at the Heather Curling Club this past weekend. Macdonell and Arbuckle capped off their run with a thrilling 10-8 extra end victory over Granite Curling Club’s Katy Lukowich and Thomas McGillivray.

With the win, Macdonell and Arbuckle will represent Manitoba at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in February in Prince Edward Island.

“It’s an exciting feeling. I can’t really put it into words right now,” Macdonell told the Free Press on Monday.

“I’m still taking it all in because it’s something I’ve wanted for a while. To actually get it done is something special.”

Macdonell and Arbuckle cruised to an early 5-1 lead in the gold medal match, but the game flipped when Lukowich and McGillivray stormed back with a four-ender to go up 6-5 after six ends. The eventual winners responded with a three before Lukowich had a clutch draw for two to force the extra end.

“Yeah, it was definitely very stressful. But I think overall, being able to bounce back after giving up a big end is what helped us because we definitely felt the pressure after that,” said Arbuckle.

Macdonell and Arbuckle, who will both be 20 by the time the Canada Games begin, started curling together in 2020. They joined the 2020 Mixed Doubles Provincials in Brandon just for fun but ended up going on an impressive run and finishing the event at 4-3. Macdonell, who plays lead for Jace Freeman, and Arbuckle, the lead for Grace Beaudry, have been teaming up and working together ever since.

Freeman will also be in P.E.I. as he won the province’s under-18 Canada Games trails last month. Since Macdonell is 19, his only shot to make it was the under-21 mixed doubles.

“Going to Canada Games is something I wanted to do for mixed doubles. Mackenzie and I, it’s been our goal to win this. To work for the past couple of years and then finally get it done and win this one event that they have, it’s awesome,” said Macdonell.

Macdonell and Arbuckle think they have what it takes to reach the podium on the national stage, but that won’t be their sole focus.

“I think we just want to soak it all in. This is the first experience for both of us so we just want to take advantage of the experience overall,” said Arbuckle.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31