Mixed Doubles nationals a great experience for Ferguson/Smith team

The Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship wraps up today in Leduc Alberta. CBC TV is broadcasting the final. PEI’s representatives, Lauren Ferguson and Calvin Smith from the Crapaud Community Curling Club. picked up a round-robin win against Dana Ferguson/John Epping and gained lots of experience in a tough round-robin pool. They have sent along this game-by-game report:

Lauren Ferguson (left) and Calvin Smith at the provincials

Game 1 -We played Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing in the first game. Lauren and Calvin played well for their first game ever on arena ice. We had a couple chances for 2 but had to settle to one as our draws were a bit heavy. Jennifer and Brent made the playoffs but lost in the QF. I hope Jennifer’s knee is going to be ok.

Game 2- We played Dana Ferguson/John Epping. We won this game in the extra end. It was one of our best played games of the week.

Game 3 -We played Jocelyn Peterman/Derek Samagalski. They were not missing anything at all and we had a few misses. They made the playoffs but lost in the QF.

Game 4- We played Chaelynn Kitz/Brayden Stewart. We did not have a great first four ends but we got much better in the last four ends. This junior team out of Saskatchewan were an amazing team and they finished first in our pool. We meet them our first day when we were waiting to start practices on the ices. I was cheering for them all week as well as our team. They lost in the QF game but played an amazing game.

Game 5- We played Val Sweeting/Tim March. Lauren made a hit and roll to score 3 in the 2nd end to tie the game. Calvin had a draw for 2 in the 4th end but his rock was a bit heavy and slid to far. They made it to the playoffs and lost in the round of 12.

Game 6 -We played Marilese Kasner/Dustin Kalthoff who made the QF at the World’s in mixed doubles — which Canada needed in order to have a chance to qualify for the Olympics. We finally got hammer for the first end but it did not work out so well. They were a great team and they never missed anything. \

Game 7-We played Selena Sturmay/Karsten Sturmay who both had just won the men’s and women’s University Championships for AB. The University Championships just finished on Wednesday afternoon in the same arenas. This team did not miss too many shots and they wanted to play the 8th which we were able to get 1 point.

Our pool was a tough pool but if you are going to get better you need to be playing these top teams. Playing these top teams has been an amazing experience and I have learned a lot watching. I want to thank the volunteers. They had a long 2 weeks with the 4 national events being held. Thank you to Curling Canada for making all these events possible.

The championship curling season’s not over yet for Ferguson. She’ll be skipping her regular 4 person team in the Canadian Under-18 Boy’s and  Girl’s Curling Championships, April 9-14 in Saint Andrews New Brunswick.

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