It’s two championships in six days for both Mitchell Schut from the Cornwall Curling Club and Lauren Ferguson from the Charlottetown, Cornwall and Crapaud clubs, capturing the Under 16 championships on Sunday afternoon at the Montague Curling Rink after winning the Under 18 on Monday. It’s also the third year in a row for Schut winning the U16 Boy’s, while two members of the Ferguson foursome – Katie Shaw and Lexie Murray, were on last year’s Girl’s winning team.
Boy’s Champions Photo (L-R): Larry Richards (Montague Curling Rink representative), Dylan Moase (lead), Sean Peric (2nd), Liam Kelly (3rd), Mitchell Schut (skip), Mike Schut (coach)
Team Schut beat last year’s runner-up, the Chase MacMillan rink from Charlottetown, by an 8-5 score in the Sunday morning semi-final, stealing a triple in the third end, and taking another three in the fifth on the way to the win. The Cruz Pineau rink from the Silver Fox in Summerside beat the fourth team in the competition, the Samuel Shaw team from the host club, 9-2 in the semi to advance to the final against the Schut squad. Pineau, going into the final undefeated, had previously handed Schut his only loss in the event, by a 10-4 score.
Boy’s Finalist Photo (L-R): Larry Richards (Montague Curling Rink representative), Noah Gallant (third), Shelley MacFadyen (coach), Cruz Pineau (skip), Brock Rochford (2nd), Brayden Snow (lead)
In the high-scoring final, Pineau opened with a triple, but Schut came back with four in the second. The teams then traded triples, giving Schut a 7-6 lead at the fourth-end break. A pair of singles gave Pineau a 7-6 lead after six. Schut scored three in the seventh and ran Pineau out of rocks in eighth for a 10-8 win. Schut’s team included Liam Kelly from his regular team at third, with Sean Peric from the host club joining the rink at second, and Dylan Moase, who normally curls on his brother Devin Schut’s team, at lead. Devin and their father Mike Schut shared coaching duties. Rounding out the Pineau finalist team were third Brock Rochford, second Noah Gallant, and lead Brayden Snow, with coach Shelley MacFadyen.
Girl’s Champions Photo (L-R): Larry Richards (Montague Curling Rink representative), Lauren Ferguson (skip), Katie Shaw (3rd), Alexis Burris (2nd), Lexie Murray (lead), David Murphy (coach)
Ferguson’s semi-final game in the six-team Girl’s division was against Gracie Gaudet and her Charlottetown team, and was tied at 3-3 after five ends of play. Ferguson then scored a deuce in six and a steal of four in the seventh for a 9-3 lead coming home, running Gaudet out of rocks in the last end. The other semi was a closely-fought contest between Cornwall clubmates Rachel MacLean, and Sydney Howatt, with the teams tied 3-3 at break. MacLean was kept to 1 in five, with Howatt blanking the sixth and giving up a steal of one in the seventh. She was unable to score in the eighth, with MacLean winning 5-3, and setting up the final between the two undefeated teams in the event, Ferguson and MacLean.
Girl’s Finalist Photo (L-R): Larry Richards (Montague Curling Rink representative), Rachel MacLean (skip), Jordan Dunphy-Condon (3rd), Avery Nicholson (2nd), Ella Lenentine (lead), Carl Nicholson (coach)
In the final, MacLean had a 3-2 lead after three ends, but Ferguson picked up four points in the fourth to grab the lead with a 6-3 score. MacLean scored singles in ends five and seven, with Ferguson scoring a deuce in the sixth, to lead 8-5 coming home, running MacLean out of rocks in the final end.
The winning Ferguson team includes Katie Shaw at third, Alexis Burris at second, and Lexie Murray at lead, with coach David Murphy. Completing the finalist MacLean rink were third Jordan Dunphy-Condon, second Avery Nicholson, and lead Ella Lenentine. Carl Nicholson is coach.
Awards
Following the finals and the presentations to the teams, the awards for Sportsmanship, as voted on by all the players, and Coaching, as voted on by the coaches in the event, were handed out, with the Boy’s Sportsmanship award going to Brock Rochford from Team Pineau, the Girl’s going to skip Rachel MacLean, and the Coaching award going to Shelley MacFadyen, coach of Team Pineau.
Photo (L-R): Larry Richards from the Montague Curling Rink, Brock Rochford, Boy’s Sportsmanship winner
Photo (L-R): Larry Richards from the Montague Curling Rink, Rachel MacLean, Girl’s Sportsmanship winner
Photo (L-R): Larry Richards from the Montague Curling Club, Shelley MacFadyen, Coaching award winner