Something in the ice in East St. Paul
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2021 (1435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
There’s something in the water in East St. Paul these days. Or, more accurately, something on the ice, as a number of East St. Paul-based curling teams have won big lately.
East St. Paul Curling Club’s Team Walter, skipped by East Kildonan’s Meghan Walter, won CurlManitoba’s world junior qualifier held at the Heather Curling Club, earning the right to represent Manitoba at the world junior national qualifier later this month in Saskatoon, Sask.
“Since we lost out on a year last year, this was our goal, to win provincials,” Walter said.
“As a club we are very proud of Meghan Walter and her team for capturing the junior provincial title,” Kim Link, club treasurer and 2021 provincial senior women’s champion, told The Herald. “She and her team have worked hard over the years and its paying off with the U18 Provincial title last year and now this one”
At the Heather Curling Club on Nov. 6, Team Walter beat Emma Jensen and her team after completing the round-robin portion of the six team event with a 3-2 record, losing their final round-robin game to Team Jensen. Walter won playoff victories over Team Tansy Tober (13-4) and Team Jensen, whose 4-1 record earned them first place and a bye to the final.
“I thought we played very well. After our first game we were a little shaky, but we had a good team debrief after that,” Walter said. “Every game after that we came out sharp and capitalized on the other team’s misses.”
The tournament in Saskatoon, which runs Nov. 22 to 27, will determine which team represents Canada at the 2022 World Junior Championships, which are scheduled for March 5 to 12, 2022 in Sweden.
“To be top six is one of our biggest goals. Past that, we’ll look at it. We’ll take it game by game. We try to win the first half, then win the back half.”
To keep sharp over the course of the COVID-19 shutdowns last winter, Walter’s father Frank built an outdoor rink last winter at the family home in East Kildonan, where the team was able to practise.
“As soon as we were able to get back into the club, we’ve been practicing,” Walter said. “We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this event, given that this is the biggest accomplishment that we wanted.”
Not to be outdone, East St. Paul Curling Club’s Team Link, made up of skip Kim Link, third Colleen Kilgallen, second Karen Fallis, lead Renee Fletcher and fifth Lynn Fallis-Kurz won the CurlManitoba Senior Women’s Provincial Championship on Nov. 8, beating St. Vital’s Norma Purdy 7-4.
“We needed to play well all weekend because the competition was very stiff,” Link said.
The title is Link’s third in the past eight years, after winning it in 2015 and 2018.
““We’re very happy for all of us, but especially Colleen Kilgallen, who is going to her first national competition” Link noted.
As though that weren’t enough, on Oct. 23, East St. Paul’s Tracy Fleury, Selena Njegovan, Liz Fyfe and Kristin MacCuish defeated Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones team 9-7 to win the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters title in Oakville, Ont. Team Fleury also won the title in 2019.
“They are heading into the Olympic trials with a ton of success over the past few months, and will be a tough team to beat,” Link said of Team Fleury. “It would be so exciting to cheer on a team from East St. Paul at the Olympics.”
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us