The 4th annual Curl Atlantic Championship, Atlantic Canada’s premiere curling event, wrapped up this evening at the CARI Complex in Charlottetown, with PEI’s Kathy O’Rourke winning the women’s event, and Chad Stevens of Nova Scotia taking the men’s title.
Stevens and his team of Cameron MacKenzie, Scott Saccary, Phil Crowell and coach Dave MacLean, beat PEI.’s Adam Casey foursome, a newly-formed team this season, 7-1 in the men’s final, stealing a single in the 5th end and a triple in the sixth to bring the game to an early conclusion. Josh Barry, Anson Carmody, and Robbie Doherty, with coach Lincoln Peters, round out the Casey squad.
Stevens edged Halifax’s Mark Dacey 9-8 while Casey beat Dartmouth’s Alan O’Leary 8-2 in semi-final action earlier on Sunday.
Kathy O’Rourke went undefeated with six straight wins in the event, beating Sylvie Robichaud of New Brunswick 7-2 in six ends in the women’s final. The O’Rourke team, which includes third Robyn Green, who throws last, along with Meaghan Hughes and Tricia Affleck, and alternate player Stefanie Clark and coach Al Ledgerwood, beat the Suzanne Birt rink, also from Charlottetown, 7-5 in their semi-final, while Robichaud got by Cornwall’s Veronica Smith team 6-4 when Smith, facing three, was light on her final stone. The Smith team, two-time reigning PEI Junior Champs, were called into the event at the last minute when another team couldn’t make it. Team Smith includes Chloe McCloskey, Sabrina Smith, and Katie Fullerton, with coach Bill Hope.
Total announced purse for the Championship is $14,000. Eight men’s and eight women’s teams took part.
The Canada Games round robin event, featuring 5 men’s and 5 women’s Atlantic Canadian contenders for the 2015 Games, also wrapped up Sunday, with PEI rinks skipped by Alex MacFadyen, Kaleigh MacKay and Tyler Smith finishing play with four wins and two losses each, while the Lauren Moerike team went 1 and 5.