The competitive curling season is in full swing, with three PEI women’s rinks competing at the Lady Monctonian Invitiational this weekend at Curl Moncton, and the Island’s Adam Casey rink, along with the Brad Gushue team from St. John’s, which includes PEI native Brett Gallant at second stone, playing in the Challenge Château Cartier de Gatineau event in Gatineau, Buckingham, and Thurso QC. Results from both events are available at CurlingZone.com.

The three PEI rinks curling in the 16 team Lady Monctonian are the Suzanne Birt team, which includes third Robyn Green, second Meaghan Hughes, and lead Marie Christianson, along with the Shelly Bradley foursome, with three-time Junior champ Veronica Smith joining the team at third stone, along with Jane DiCarlo and Tricia Affleck on the front end. Rounding out the PEI contingent is the Kim Dolan squad, with Rebecca Jean MacDonald at third, Michala Robison playing second stone, and Jackie Reid in the lead position. Curling got underway at 7:30 this morning, with Birt and Dolan both seeing action. The quarter-finals go Sunday at 7 am, with the semis at 10, and the final at 1pm. Birt won the event in 2013, while Hughes, Green, and Affleck were on last year’s runner-up team, which was skipped by Kathy O’Rourke.

Gushue, meanwhile, won the triple-knockout Challenge event in 2013, with both Gallant and Casey on his team. They were runners-up to Mark Dacey in 2012. Both the Gushue and Casey rinks lost in the quarter-finals last year. Play got underway on Wednesday evening in this year’s event, with Gushue currently sporting a 2-0 win-loss record, while Casey is at 1-1. Quarter-finals take place Sunday at 10 am Atlantic, with the semi-final round set for 1:30p, and the final at 4:30 AT. Event website: http://www.challengechateaucartier.com/index-en.html