Peterson dusting off curling gear

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This article was published 01/02/2021 (1897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Beth Peterson had stowed her gear in the garage, a tell-tale sign the curling season was done — basically before it had even begun. Once the 2021 provincials were scrapped just before Christmas, that was it.

But a funny thing happened on the way to a protracted off-season for Peterson and her Assiniboine Memorial team. Curling Canada tossed two additional wild-card teams into the traditional 16-team Scotties Tournament of Champions field, the rocks aligned and the Winnipeggers squeezed in by a horse-hair.

Out came the gear from storage.

“I don’t know if I should be admitting that, but I’d packed up my things and was starting to count down the days to lake season,” Peterson said with a laugh Monday afternoon. “But I found it since then and I’m ready to go. It’s crazy to think that we’re actually going.

“I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in yet, but we’re just unbelievably excited to be given this opportunity. We’re really thankful we were chosen as the last team and slipped in under the wire.”

The Peterson crew, featuring third Jenna Loder, second Katherine Doerksen and lead Melissa Gordon, offered a resounding ‘absolutely’ to Curling Canada’s official invite to the Scotties, set for Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park. 

The team earned the final wild-card berth based on its 12th-place spot on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS). But Peterson had to wait for Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island, ranked ninth, to wrap up the provincial title out east before celebrating her upcoming Scotties debut.

“We’re going to be like sponges at this event. We’re going to take everything in and it’s going to be a great experience for us,” said Peterson, 26. 

All three wild-card spots have been filled by Manitoba teams, creating a whopping five-team contingent bound for Calgary in two weeks.

Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul (No. 2 on the CTRS), skipped by Chelsea Carey, and Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona (ranked 11th), the 2020 world junior women’s champions, will join Gimli’s Kerri Einarson, returning to defend as Team Canada, and Jennifer Jones of St. Vital, representing Manitoba.

Zacharias, who plays with her sister, Emily (second), third Karlee Burgess and lead Lauren Lenetine, had known for a couple of weeks they would likely be summoned.

“I thought it was starting to sink in and then when Curling Canada made the official announcement (Monday), all those emotions came out again. Like, ‘Wow, this is real. We’re actually going to the Scotties.’ It’s such an amazing opportunity,” said Zacharias. 

The Scotties will be the first of six competitions to be held in a ‘bubble’ setting. The winner will represent Canada March 19-28 at the world championship in Switzerland.

In men’s play, 2020 Manitoba champion Jason Gunnlaugson of Morris returns to the Brier, March 5-14, while Mike McEwen of East St. Paul heads west as a wild-card team.

As it stands, Manitoba teams will need to self-isolate for 14 days after returning from Alberta. But that won’t be a hardship for Zacharias and her teammates, all in university and accustomed to studying at home. 

“With everything being online this year, we can basically take class with us. It’ll be a learning curve on how to balance that with curling,” she said.  

  

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell