The latest from the Canadian Jr. Curling Championships

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

*************************

Northern Ontario leads women, Ontario tops men at M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors SAULT STE. MARIE, February 4…The Northern Ontario women and the Ontario men are the only unbeaten teams as they top the leaderboards at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors after the completion of Draw 5 Monday afternoon.

Northern Ontario, skipped by Ashley Miharija of Thunder Bay, had an afternoon bye to remain perfect at 3-0, while British Columbia (Kelly Thompson of Richmond) moved to 3-1 after defeating Saskatchewan (Stephanie McVicar of Saskatoon), 9-4.

In other games, New Brunswick (Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton) won its first, edging Nova Scotia (Danielle Parsons of Halifax) 6-5 in an extra end, while Prince Edward Island (Erin Carmody of Summerside) blitzed winless Northwest Territories (Valisa Aho of Yellowknife), 12-3.

Behind the two leaders are four teams at 2-1: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

On the men’s side, Ontario (Travis Fanset of St. Thomas) also had a bye to stay at 3-0, but previously-unbeaten British Columbia (Jay Wakefield of New Westminster) gave up steals in the ninth and 10th ends in dropping a 9-7 decision to Saskatchewan (Brennen Jones of Regina).

In other games, New Brunswick (Jon Rennie of Rothesay) hammered winless Nova Scotia (Kelsey Amero of Halifax), 9-2 while Prince Edward Island, skipped by last year’s runner-up Brett Gallant of Charlottetown, took an 8-4 decision over winless Northwest Territories (Colin Miller of Yellowknife).

British Columbia and Saskatchewan are now deadlocked with 3-1 marks. Alberta, Manitoba, Northern Ontario and Quebec are next at 2-1.

The next draw is at 7:00 pm, as round robin play continues at both Soo Curlers Association and Tarentorus Sports Club through Friday, with draw times at 9:00 am, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET.

At the conclusion of the round robin, the first place teams advance to their respective finals on Sunday, while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday evening.

Both finals at Soo Curlers Association will be televised live across Canada on CBC-TV. The women’s final will start at 12 noon, with the men’s final beginning at 1:30 pm ET. The winners will then represent Canada at the world junior curling championships, March 1-9 in Östersund, Sweden. Canada has won a leading 16 world junior men’s titles since 1975 and eight women’s crowns since 1988.

CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is also providing extensive event coverage of the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors to its subscribers.

************************

Now only three undefeated teams at Juniors Sault Ste. Marie, February 4….There are now only three unbeaten teams at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors after completion of the fourth draw on Monday morning.

The sole undefeated women’s team, at 3-0, is host Northern Ontario, skipped by Ashley Miharija of Thunder Bay, who hammered Yukon (Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse), 14-4.

In other Draw 4 games, Manitoba handed Saskatchewan its first loss, 7-4; Quebec whipped Prince Edward Island, 12-2, Alberta put a 15-0 thumping on previously-unbeaten British Columbia, while Ontario was an 8-2 winner over Newfoundland and Labrador.

Chasing the leader are six teams at 2-1: Alberta (Maria Bushell of Calgary), British Columbia (Kelly Thompson of Richmond), Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg), Ontario (Danielle Inglis of Burlington), Quebec (Kristen Richard of Lachine) and Saskatchewan (Stephanie McVicar of Saskatoon).

On the men’s side, British Columbia (Jay Wakefield of New Westminster) and Ontario (Travis Fanset of St. Thomas) remained perfect at 3-0. In a battle of unbeaten teams, British Columbia edged Alberta, 6-5. Ontario kept pace by pounding Newfoundland and Labrador, 10-2. Saskatchewan also fell from the undefeated ranks, tripped up by Manitoba, 8-5.

The results left five teams at 2-1: Alberta (Aaron Sluchinski of Drayton Valley), Manitoba (Kyle Peters of Winnipeg), Northern Ontario (Kory Carr of Thunder Bay), Quebec (William Dion of Drummondville) and Saskatchewan (Brennen Jones of Regina).

Round robin play continues at both Soo Curlers Association and Tarentorus Sports Club through Friday, with draw times at 9:00 am, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET.

At the conclusion of the round robin, the first place teams advance to their respective finals on Sunday, while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday evening.

***************************

Day 1 complete at M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors SAULT STE. MARIE, February 3…Day 1 drew to a close Sunday at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors with seven teams still unbeaten through three draws.

On the men’s side, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan enjoy perfect 2-0 marks, while in women’s, British Columbia, Northern Ontario and Saskatchewan share the same 2-0 records.

In men’s Draw 3 action, Manitoba (Kyle Peters of Winnipeg) defeated Nova Scotia (Kelsey Amero of Halifax), 10-6, Alberta (Aaron Sluchinski of Drayton Valley) pulled out a 9-8 win over Northern Ontario (Kory Carr of Thunder Bay), last year’s runner-up Brett Gallant of Charlottetown, PEI took out Newfoundland and Labrador’s Colin Thomas of St. John’s, 7-3, Ontario’s Travis Fanset of St. Thomas beat Quebec’s William Dion of Drummondville, 7-4 and British Columbia’s Jay Wakefield of New Westminster had an easy time with New Brunswick’s Jon Rennie of Rothesay, an 8-1 decision which ended after six ends.

On the women’s side, British Columbia’s Kelly Thompson of Richmond defeated New Brunswick’s Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton, 9-3, Northern Ontario (Ashley Miharija of Thunder Bay) beat Alberta’s Maria Bushell of Calgary, 11-4, Prince Edward Island’s Erin Carmody of Summerside thrashed Newfoundland and Labrador’s Julie Devereaux of St. John’s, 10-2, Quebec’s Kristen Richard of Lachine edged Ontario’s Danielle Inglis of Burlington, 5-4, while Nova Scotia’s Danielle Parsons of Halifax stole singles in the 10th and 11th ends to prevail over Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg), 6-5.

At the conclusion of the round robin, the first place teams advance to their respective finals on Sunday, while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday evening.

This is the third year of title sponsorship by M&M Meat Shops, Canada's largest retail chain of specialty frozen foods, which signed a new agreement with the Canadian Curling Association to sponsor the Canadian junior men’s and women’s curling championships through 2009. Alberta leads all provinces with 15 junior men’s titles, while Saskatchewan is next with 13. Northern Ontario has won four times, the last by Jeff Currie in 1996 in Edmonton.

Northern Ontario has yet to win a Canadian junior women’s crown since the event began in 1971 in Vancouver. Saskatchewan leads with 10 victories.

The men’s and women’s championships were conducted separately until being combined in 1987 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

***********************************************************