麻豆社区

Ray Mikkelsen survived a tightly-played championship game to finish off an undefeated International Bonspiel Sunday and end his season on a high note.

The ice will now be removed from the Whitehorse Curling Club for the summer.

Twenty-two men's teams and 14 women's teams 鈥� including two from Alaska 鈥� competed in the 61st annual International Bonspiel over the weekend. Games got underway Thursday night and ran until Sunday afternoon.

Mikkelsen 鈥� also the club's icemaker 鈥� recently missed qualifying for the main draw at the national senior's championship in Summerside, P.E.I. by mere inches, and also curled at the Dominion club championships early in the season.

Mikkelsen's rink was edged by Nova Scotia in an extra end in P.E.I. last month, ending the Yukon's chance to compete in the main draw.

On Sunday though, the skip was back to his winning ways, taking the men's A division with a 3-2 win over George Hilderman's rink. Mikkelsen previously won the bonspiel in 2007.

The win capped a great season, but the skip refused to call it his best ever.

"I went to the Brier in 2002,鈥� Mikkelsen said. "Nothing beats that.鈥�

Mikkelsen told the Star he will be looking to return to the Brier next season. On Sunday, the veteran skip curled with his son Dustin at third, Scott Williamson at second, and Mike L'Henaff at lead.

Not much separated the two finalists, he said.

"I just made one more shot than the other skip (Hilderman),鈥� he said. "Neither one of us curled very well, that's for sure. The rest of our teams curled pretty good.鈥�

Losing skip George Hilderman took the loss in stride.

"I love the game, so anytime you're playing in a final, that's a good thing,鈥� he said following the championship.

Hilderman said the game was lost in the sixth end when he jammed the hammer and only picked up one point.

"It was probably the only end in the whole game where we actually had some rocks in play,鈥� he said. "The strategy from Ray Mikkelsen is 鈥� he likes to keep it fairly clean.鈥�

Hilderman recently turned 60, and said next year he will compete in both the seniors and masters ranks.

"As long as I'm still throwing good, I'm going to be playing this game,鈥� he said. "I really enjoy it.鈥�

The women's A final featured a familiar face, and ended with local skip Nicole Baldwin winning her eighth International Bonspiel over a Fairbanks team by a score of 9-6.

Baldwin said it's been nice to head into so many summers over the years on a winning note.

"You can always look back and say 鈥極h, I finished off the season well,'鈥� she said. "I enjoy the final spiel of the year. Just to get a different team out than I usually curl with 鈥� it's just a lot of fun.鈥�

Baldwin praised her teammates Sheila Stockton, Helen Strong and Ladene Shaw for their strong play over the weekend.

"My team curled great,鈥� she said. "We struggled for a couple ends in the final, but we really fought back in this game to get a W. I'm really proud of my team holding in there.鈥�

Fairbanks skip Terri McFarland had nothing but praise for Baldwin.

"She's a fine skip and a great curler,鈥� McFarland said.

The Alaskan foursome had never played together before, and the weekend bonspiel marked the first time any of them had traveled to play.

McFarland said they never expected to land a berth in the championship game.

"We're in shock,鈥� she said. "Our goal was to come to Whitehorse and curl and have fun. To end up in the finals was just beyond our imagination.鈥�