Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
REUNION TOUR 鈥 Skip Kerry Campbell lets a shot go in the women鈥檚 A final at the International Bonspiel Sunday.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
REUNION TOUR 鈥 Skip Kerry Campbell lets a shot go in the women鈥檚 A final at the International Bonspiel Sunday.
A 20-year reunion party turned into a march to the International Bonspiel title at the Whitehorse Curling Club last weekend.
A 20-year reunion party turned into a march to the International Bonspiel title at the Whitehorse Curling Club last weekend.
For the first time since 1996, Kerry Campbell hit the ice with third Lindsay Moldowan, second Tracy Oles and lead Kara Kowalyshen.
Success came immediately, capped by a 9-2 victory over Charmaine Thom in the women鈥檚 A division Sunday.
Thom had handed the Campbell rink its only blemish earlier in the four-day tournament, beating them 8-7 on Saturday afternoon.
However, Campbell and co. roared out to a 4-0 lead via steal in the first end of the final and Thom was never able to recover.
Campbell, 37, acknowledged it was a special weekend.
鈥淭his is the first time in 20 years that we鈥檝e curled together as a team,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was fun. We had a lot of laughs.
鈥淚鈥坵asn鈥檛 sure how it would be after not curling for 20 years together, but we got out on the ice and it was just like we were back in juniors. ... It was a good comeback. Hopefully it won鈥檛 be another 20 years.鈥
In 1996, her rink finished 3-9 at the Canadian juniors in Edmonton with a roster that also included Tia-Jayne Clark.
Rhonda Horte鈥檚 rink won the women鈥檚 B division, while Ev Pasichnyk鈥檚 team took the C crown.
Meanwhile, lefty Darol Stuart capped his season with a victory of his own, downing Pat Paslawski 8-6 to win the men鈥檚 A event.
Stuart, 62, sifted his final shot through two guards to successfully remove Paslawski鈥檚 last hope and conclude a tightly played contest.
His rink 鈥 which went undefeated through the weekend 鈥 included third Herb Balsam, second Lorenzo Roberti and lead Clarence Jack.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good way to wind up the season, for sure,鈥 said Stuart. 鈥淭hings hadn鈥檛 been going very well all season, so it was kind of nice to finally click.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun bonspiel, so nobody gets too wound up.鈥
Next week, Stuart will skip the Yukon men鈥檚 rink at the Canadian masters championships in Nova Scotia, alongside third Gord Zealand, second Bob Walker and lead Jack.
Tyler Williams鈥 rink won the men鈥檚 B title, while Leland Rich and George Hilderman took the C and D pools, respectively.
The event did have an international flavour, thanks to two teams that made the trek down from Fairbanks, Alaska.
Rich eventually downed Jon Johnson to win the men鈥檚 C final 鈥 an all-Alaska affair.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a long drive, but we like coming to this club because it鈥檚 a lot like our home club,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淭ravelling鈥檚 fun and it鈥檚 the only spiel we can go to out of Alaska without taking a plane.鈥
Teams also came from Carmacks, Carcross as well as Atlin and Kitwanga, B.C.
The annual International Bonspiel serves as a season-ending event for the Whitehorse club. The ice will come out of the facility this week.
Club president Mark Evans said the organization is in good standing thanks to a considerable membership boost that saw numbers rise to 400.
Even more telling, Evans said, is that many of those members are the result of re-energized learn-to-curl and junior programs.
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