Cameron added to Scotties field

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This article was published 29/01/2024 (816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kate Cameron got the news she was hoping for on Monday: she’s qualified for the Canadian women’s curling nationals next month in Calgary.

There’s no time to celebrate, though.

The 32-year-old skip from New Bothwell has to quickly find a new teammate as second Taylor McDonald, an import from Edmonton, is seven and a half months pregnant and won’t be able to compete.

Cameron, third Meghan Walter, McDonald, and lead Mackenzie Elias finished in third place on Sunday in Morden at the Manitoba women’s curling provincials after falling to Assiniboine’s Beth Peterson in the semifinal.

Kaitlyn Lawes went on to beat Peterson 9-8 later that day to claim the Manitoba crown.

Altona’s Mackenzie Zacharias was an alternate for Team Cameron at provincials but is unavailable to make the trip to Calgary.

“Yeah, we’re in a little bit of a crunch now trying to figure out what we’re going to do. We were very focused on last week and not really looking to the future,” said Cameron.

“Until we got our official invite, we hadn’t really gone to the drawing board, but we’re having those conversations now and we’re hoping we’ll have a player to announce in the coming days.”

Instead of wild cards, Curling Canada is referring to Cameron and B.C.’s Corryn Brown — who lost her provincial title game Sunday to Clancy Grandy — as Canadian Team Ranking System qualifiers. Cameron is ranked seventh nationally, while Brown is one spot behind her.

Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones and Ontario’s Rachel Homan are also considered CTRS qualifiers although their spots were announced before the 2023-24 season began due to their ranking from the 2022-23 campaign.

The three Keystone Province representatives will be called Manitoba-Lawes, Manitoba-Jones, and Manitoba-Cameron.

Gimli’s Kerri Einarson will also be there as the reigning, defending four-time national champion and will once again wear Team Canada’s red and white.

Despite having the province’s name next to hers, Cameron said their jackets will still resemble something close to what wild-card entries have worn in recent years, but they will have ‘MB’ on their backs.

“I can promise you there is no yellow or brown,” said Cameron. “Honestly, I think we’re just happy to be there and at this point we’d wear anything.”

Cameron got off to a strong start in Morden with a 5-0 record in round-robin play before dropping three straight games to end their championship hopes.

Regardless of who her replacement is, McDonald is confident Cameron and Co. will be competitive at nationals.

“I think they’re going to put a really good performance. I think these girls have a ton of heart and passion for the game and will put on a great show out there,” said McDonald. “Hopefully I can help in any way possible and support them as much as I can, but I know they’re going to be just fine without me and I have all the faith in them.”

The 18-team event runs Feb. 16-25 at the WinSport Arena. The full field, and the two round-robin pools, are now set after eight provincial championships were decided this past weekend.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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