Algoma brings home a second OCAA silver medal (Updated)

Algoma University College's women's curling team, skipped by Cassie Heppner, is returning home from the Ontario College's Athletic Association (OCAA) championships with a silver medal.

On Sunday afternoon at the Glendale Gold and Country Club in Hamilton, the Algoma Thunderbirds fell to Sir Sanford Fleming in the gold medal game.

Heppner is joined by third Stephanie Sammon, second Kelsey Janveau and lead Andrea Boyd.

The curling silver follows a silver medal performance on Saturday night by the Algoma women's basketball team at the OCAA championships in Ottawa.

The Heppner rink advanced to the championship game after coming from behind to score an 8-6 semi-final win over host Mohawk College.

In the round robin, where the Thunderbirds finished in second place with a 2-1 record, Algoma defeated Mohawk 8-5 and Algonquin 10-1 before dropping a 10-5 decision to Fleming.

The following is a news release provided by the OCAA:

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CHAMPIONSHIPS ROCKED IN HAMILTON March 5, 2007 - The Seneca Sting, Fleming Knights and Algonquin Thunder captured provincial banners this past weekend at the 2007 OCAA Curling Championships at the Glendale Golf and Curling Club, hosted by Mohawk College. Seneca successfully defended their men’s title going 5-0 while the Knights struck gold in the women’s competition going 4-0. The Algonquin Thunder went a perfect 5-0 to capture gold in the mixed division.

The Seneca Sting looked impressive in the round robin going 4-0 to outscore their opponents 35-8. In the gold medal final, the Sting went on to defeat the Mohawk Mountaineers 9-1 to win their second consecutive Men’s Championship. This marks the first time Seneca College has won back-to-back Men’s Curling titles. The medal podium saw Seneca take gold, Mohawk won the silver and Algoma finished with the bronze. The golden squad was made up of Blair Metrakos (skip), Sean Harrison, Curtis Samoy and Chris Van Huyse.

The Fleming Knights women’s team rolled through round robin action going 3-0, averaging 9.6 PPG in the opening round. In the championship final, the Knights secured the college’s first curling gold medal with a 7-3 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds. The team included Marteen Lortie (skip), Heather Kreutz, Robyn Finner and Kate Bennett. After two years of winning the silver medal, winning gold was especially sweet for the Knights. Algoma (silver) defeated Mohawk (bronze) in the semi-finals by a score of 8-6.

The OCAA mixed division returned in 2007 after being suspended for one year in 2006. The Algonquin Thunder rolled to their fifth mixed division gold medal with a 10-3 victory over the Fleming Knights in the gold medal final. Algonquin swept the competition in round robin action going 4-0, outscoring their opponents 46-8. The Thunder rink was made up of Shane Latimer (skip), Nicole Johnston, Travis Moulding and Emily Hoekstra. In semi-final action, the Fleming Knights (silver) narrowly defeated the St. Clair Saints (bronze) 7-6.

Unfortunately, the Confederation Thunderhawks were unable to attend the Championships due to poor weather conditions that hit southern Ontario on Thursday and were forced to return to Thunder Bay.

At the close of the weekend’s competition several teams were awarded for their first-class performance representing their colleges.

Congratulations go out to: Fleming, Lindsay – Jim Martin Fair Play Award (Men’s) Algonquin –Vern Dow Fair Play Award (Women’s) Seneca – Hap Holman Fair Play Award (Mixed)

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