There will be no shortage of rinks with Moose Jaw connections to cheer for at the Viterra Scotties provincial women’s curling championship in the new year.
While defending champion Penny Barker knew she was through to the main tournament almost a month ago, Curl Sask confirmed Dec. 20 that she’ll be joined by fellow Moose Jaw products Skylar Ackerman and Amber Holland as rinks that have qualified through the Canadian Team Ranking System.
For Barker and her Moose Jaw Curling Centre rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski, their qualification was locked in on the Nov. 25 weekend when they picked up their second-straight tournament win with a victory in the Regina Highland Sask Curling Tour stop. That gave Barker 75.75 points for the season on the CTRS rankings and the top spot for provincials.
The Highland victory capped a solid run for Barker, who won the SWCT Moose Jaw stop a month prior and finished fifth at the Dominion Securities Western Showdown during the Oct. 13 weekend.
Ackerman and her Saskatoon Sutherland rink of third Kya Kennedy, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaitlyn Skinner got their season off to a great start with a second-place finish in the U25 NextGen Classic during the Sept. 3 weekend and just under a month later also they also landed second at the Saskatoon Nutana SWCT stop.
A semifinal appearance at the Curling Stadium Series Swift Current event on Oct. 10 had Ackerman in a solid Scotties qualifying position, and points at the Western Showdown and Moose Jaw landed the former junior standout the third CTRS spot with 55.625 points.
Holland and her Kronau rink of third Kim Schneider, second Karlee Korchinski and lead Debbie Lozinski claimed the fourth and final CTRS spot, with a fifth-place finish at the elite Red Deer Curling Classic gathering the bulk of their 42.625 points.
The two-time former provincial Scotties champion also finished third at the SWCT Highland and fifth at SWCT Nutana while picking up points at the DeKalb Superspiel and Western Showdown.
Saskatoon’s Nancy Martin picked up 74.125 points through the fall to take the second CTRS berth.
Five-time reigning World Senior’s champion Sherry Anderson, Regina Highland’s Brooklyn Stevenson, Regina Highland’s Lorraine Schneider and Saskatoon Sutherland’s Jessica Mitchell earned the four Scotties spots from the Sask Women’s Curling Tour.
The remaining four teams will qualify through the Women’s Last Chance spiel Jan. 5-8 in North Battleford, with the Viterra Scotties beginning Jan. 25 in Estevan.
On the men’s side, the four CTRS teams qualifying directly for the SaskTel Tankard are Saskatoon’s Colton Flasch, Regina’s Kelly Knapp, Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter and Saskatoon's Kody Hartung.
The Tankard qualifiers from the Sask CTRS are Saskatoon’s Michael Carss, Swift Current’s Steven Laycock, Saskatoon’s Daymond Bernath and Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson.
The Last Chance runs Jan. 5-8 in Tisdale, with the SaskTel Tankard beginning Feb, 1 in Estevan.
