IQALUIT, NUNAVUT, November 4, 2008 (CCA)…For the first time in history, a national sport championship will be staged in Iqaluit, Nunavut, when the Canadian Curling Association’s Canadian Mixed gets underway this Saturday.
The 46th edition of the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, which is being presented by First Air, will be held November 8-15 at the Arniatok Arena and brings together 12 teams, representing the 10 provinces plus Northern Ontario and the Territories. The teams compete in a round robin concluding Friday, after which the first place team advances directly to the final on Saturday, November 15, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final to determine the other finalist.
Among the skips competing in Iqaluit, which is located approximately 2,000 km north of Ottawa, is Nova Scotia’s Mark Dacey, who won the 2004 Nokia Brier in Saskatoon and subsequently finished third at the 2004 Ford Worlds in Gävle, Sweden. Dacey, along with wife Heather Smith-Dacey, who plays third, teamed to win the 2002 Canadian Mixed when it was held in Halifax. It was the second Mixed win for Smith-Dacey, a former Canadian junior champion (1991) who won her first Mixed title as third for New Brunswick’s Grant Odishaw in 1994 in Leduc, Alberta.
Other skips include Ontario’s Wayne Tuck, who finished third to Dacey at the 2002 Canadian Mixed. Prince Edward Island’s Bill Hope, who skipped Ontario to victory at the 1968 Canadian Juniors, British Columbia’s Greg Monkman, runner-up at the 1982 Brier, along with other provincial men’s and/or junior champions such as New Brunswick’s Scott Jones, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Mercer, Manitoba’s Sean Grassie and Saskatchewan’s Darrell McKee. The participants also include Manitoba second Ross Derksen, who played third for skip David Hamblin on the 2002 Canadian and world junior men’s championship team.
In addition to a Canadian title, two players from the winning team will then represent Canada at the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Championship, slated for April 17-25, 2009 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“On behalf of the Host Committee I would like to add that we are looking forward to hosting teams from across Canada,” said Karen Costello, the 2009 Canadian Mixed chair. “In partnership with our community sponsors, we hope to make their Iqaluit visit and the Championship a truly memorable experience for all participants and spectators.”
2009 Canadian Mixed Roster
(Teams listed in order of skip, third, second and lead)
Alberta – Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton
Tom Appelman, Kalynn Park, Brandon Klassen, Rachel Pidherny
British Columbia – Royal City CC, New Westminster
Greg Monkman, Susan Allen, Randie Shen, Anita Cochrane
Manitoba – Deer Lodge CC, Winnipeg
Sean Grassie, Alli Nimik, Ross Derksen, Kendra Green
New Brunswick – Beaver CC, Moncton
Scott Jones, Sandy Comeau, Pierre Fraser, Stephanie Taylor
Newfoundland and Labrador – Re/Max Centre, St. John’s
Andrew Mercer, Jillian Waite, Scott Davidge, Tiffany Cuthbert
Northern Ontario – Soo Curlers Association, Sault Ste. Marie
Ian Fisher, Lindsay Miners, Caleb Flaxey, Chris Fortin
Nova Scotia – Mayflower CC, Halifax
Mark Dacey, Heather Smith-Dacey, Dave Stephenson, Lisa Stephenson
Ontario – Brantford Golf & Country Club, Brantford
Wayne Tuck, Kimberly Tuck, Jake Higgs, Sara Jane Gatchell
Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown
Bill Hope, Sandra Hope, Jeff Gallant, Shelley Ebbett
Quebec – Thetford Mines Golf & Curling Club, Thetford Mines
Simon Hebert, Noémie Audet-Verreault, Nicolas Marceau, Vicky Tremblay
Saskatchewan – Nutana CC, Saskatoon
Darrell McKee, Allison Gerhardt, Jason Jacobson, Amanda Jacobson
Territories – Inuvik CC, Northwest Territories
George Lennie, Donna Maring, Edgar Maring, Diane Baxter