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After spending the last eight years in Sarah Koltun鈥檚 shadow, Bailey Horte is finally in the spotlight.

The 18-year-old skip led her rink to a long-awaited Yukon junior women鈥檚 title Saturday, earning a trip to nationals in the process.

Horte鈥檚 rink defeated a younger team led by Alyssa Meger, 14, by scores of 9-3 and 13-4 to sweep the junior championship series Saturday at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

Sarah Koltun, who skipped the youngest team in Scotties Tournament of Hearts history last season, is no longer age-eligible for junior play.

Horte, joined by third Kelsey Meger, second Kelly Mahoney and lead Sian Molloy, will go on to represent the Yukon at the 2015 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Cornerbrook, Nfld., Jan. 24 to Feb. 1.

The nationals berth has been a long time coming, a smiling Horte said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly really exciting. We鈥檝e put a lot of effort into curling and it鈥檚 exciting to finally go somewhere. It was nice going in with some confidence. I鈥坱hink it鈥檚 finally our time to show what we can do.鈥�

The morning game saw Horte take control early with a double in the first end, before stealing points for five straight ends, entering the seventh with a 8-0 lead.

Meger came up with a huge triple in the seventh end, but Horte followed up with a single for a 9-3 win.

Saturday afternoon鈥檚 contest saw Meger get out to a 1-0 lead, but Horte responded with three points in the second and two more in the third. She wouldn鈥檛 trail again.

Holding a 7-4 lead heading into the ninth end, Horte scored four with a well-executed takeout for an 11-4 lead. She finished the game with a double for a 13-4 win.

鈥淥ur team definitely has a lot more experience,鈥濃�圚orte said of the lopsided scorelines. 鈥淚鈥坘now a couple of their girls started curling competitively just this year.

鈥淚 think it was a really good experience for them. ... I鈥坘now back when we first started, we were the underdogs and competing in our first playdowns was a really big experience.鈥�

Despite the consecutive losses, Alyssa Meger said the experience will help when her rink heads to the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., in March. Her rink, which also includes third Bayly Scoffin, second Peyton L鈥橦enaff and lead Karen Smallwood, was recently acclaimed as the Yukon鈥檚 junior women representatives for the event.

鈥淲e got some really good competitive practice,鈥� said Meger, the younger sister of Horte鈥檚 third, Kelsey.

An ironic twist courtesy of small-town curling saw Rhonda Horte and Wade Scoffin coaching against their daughters.

Scoffin said experience played a heavy role in Team Horte鈥檚 dominating Yukon playdowns.

鈥淲ith junior curling, teams always learn exponentially,鈥� Scoffin said. 鈥淪o with Sarah Koltun鈥檚 team graduating out of juniors, these younger ladies have been learning from their experiences.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really exciting to be able to see them move into the next level,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a steep learning curve ... but you never know what sort of teams will be at nationals. We鈥檒l have goals that won鈥檛 be winning, but we鈥檒l certainly set things up so it will be a positive experience.鈥�

Bailey Horte said her team will head to Newfoundland next month with 鈥渁n open mind.鈥�

Meanwhile, Joe Wallingham鈥檚 junior men鈥檚 rink was acclaimed to nationals this season, with no teams prepared to battle him for the opportunity.

The 18-year-old will head to Newfoundland with the same team he had at last year鈥檚 national tournament. Wallingham is once again joined by third Brayden Klassen, second Trygg Jensen and lead Spencer Wallace.

This season鈥檚 Canadian championship marks the third time the young skip has represented the Yukon at junior nationals.

鈥淚 know what to expect now, so it鈥檚 a little easier to prepare,鈥� he admitted Saturday. 鈥淵ou still get the same nerves ... it鈥檚 arena ice and the crowd鈥檚 right there, but it鈥檚 a little easier when you know what to expect.鈥�

Wallingham and company finished with a 5-4 record last year in Liverpool, N.S. 鈥� good for ninth overall.

鈥淲e have the same expectations as last year,鈥濃�圵allingham said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to have good games throughout the tournament and try to get into the championship pool.鈥�

Following nationals, Klassen will lead the Yukon junior men鈥檚 rink into action at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George.

Joining him will be Bailey Muir-Cressman, Jensen and younger brother Will Klassen.

In other junior news, Yukoner Thomas Scoffin is also hoping to return to nationals for the eighth time, after missing out on last year鈥檚 event with a loss in the provincial finals in Alberta.

Scoffin鈥檚 University of Alberta Junior Golden鈥圔ears rink is currently ranked as the top team in the Alberta North region, with playdowns looming early next month.

This year will be the 20-year-old Whitehorse native鈥檚 last crack at the country鈥檚 top junior tournament.

Scoffin is currently home for the holidays.

Winning rinks

JUNIOR WOMEN
Bailey Horte (skip)
Kelsey Meger (third)
Kelly Mahoney (second)
Sian Molloy (lead)
JUNIOR MEN
Joe Wallingham (skip)
Brayden Klassen (third)
Trygg Jensen (second)
Spencer Wallace (lead)