Local curlers take home bronze at Scotties

East Kildonan

East St. Paul

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This article was published 13/03/2024 (889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It has been another whirlwind year at the rink for a pair of local curlers.

Meghan Walter, an East Kildonan resident and Miles Macdonell Collegiate alumna, and Mackenzie Elias, an East St. Paul resident and River East Collegiate alumna, recently finished with bronze medals at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Alta., playing as part of Team Manitoba-Cameron, along with skip Kate Cameron

“I think it went really well,” said Walter, who turned 22 while in Calgary. “It’s a long week. We knew we had to battle the whole time and never give up on any of the games, which is what we did. I’m very proud of the third place finish we got.”

Walter, who won both the mixed Canadian and world championships in 2019, and Elias have been curling together since they were in high school, typically with Walter at skip and Elias throwing lead. They joined Cameron’s team as emergency subs during 2022-23 season and, once the season was over, were invited to join full-time, with Walter now throwing third and Elias staying at lead.

“We started the season very early this year, given we were a year behind,” Walter said. “We knew we had to play a lot. Our goal was to make it to a couple of slams (Grand Slam of Curling events), and we made it into all of them, which was amazing, especially for a first-year team. Our outcomes in the slams weren’t the greatest, but we learned from all those steps this season and built to our outcome at the Scotties.”

The friendship the teammates have developed over the years helped them on and off the ice, Walter noted.

“Going into a third position, which is new for me — and Kate going into skip was new for her — we had each other to bounce off and support each other,” she said. “Taylor (McDonald, who plays second) and Kenz (Elias) became a very powerful front end duo. Our friendship off the ice really reflected our play and our friendship on the ice, too, which helps.”

While the season was very much a work in progress for the team, Walter said they were able to adapt and learn from mistakes while building on their successes. The team also had to adjust on the fly, as McDonald curled pregnant right up to and through the Manitoba provincial Scotties tournament in January, when she was eight months along. (Kelsey Rocque subsequently subbed in, and McDonald took on a coaching role.)

“She was battling through that at the time,” Walter said. “It shows the kind of player she is. It also showed how we could focus on the game at hand, which is kind of what we did all season. Our perseverance and dedication showed through.”

At the Scotties, the Cameron rink ultimately lost 12-7 in the semifinal to the foursome skipped by Jennifer Jones, playing in her last women’s national championship event. However, the team’s performance earned it 42.750 world ranking points, leaving Cameron ranked 14th worldwide with 167 points earned so far this season. With a chance to compete one last time at the Players Championship in Toronto, Ont., next month still to be determined, Walter is chalking the season up as a success, and hopes to build and improve for next year.

“We’ll be talking some time to talk and rest and prepare for next year,” she said.