Hello from frigid Muskoka – the host site of the Ontario Winter Games. Actually, we are curling just south of Muskoka at the Orillia Curling Club. However, the first night (Feb 27th) was at Gravenhurst for the Opening Ceremonies – in -35 C weather. It was a shortened ceremony due to the cold, but the Rap band (all the way from Vancouver ???) was still able to play.
We are seeded in the 5th/6th positions matching up with the 3rd place finishers from Northern Ontario. Top three from N.ONT and ONT are entered. Girls and wheelchair curlers are also competing in their own events.
On the first day (Feb 28th), we played three games: a decisive loss to Horgan from Sudbury (2nd place N.ONT) and also to Hall (2nd place ONT). In the first game we actually won more ends than Horgan, but we gave up big points in the losing ends. The game against Hall was also close until we gave up a bunch in the 6th end. In the evening, we came from behind with 2 in the 8th to tie it and force an extra end against Acorn (1st N.ONT). Unfortunately, we lost the close extra end which came down to the final skips’ shots.
Today, we face Wanless (1st ONT and who were upset yesterday by Hall) and then Cull (3rd N.ONT). This is a round robin event with no tiebreaker or playoff games. Day 2 is the final day of competition.
With one round robin game to go in the girls event, the teams are all bunched up. Caldwell (St. Catharines Curling) and Lindsay Kastrau’s Team Holyoke from Guelph are in a group of 4 teams tied in second with a 2-2 record. A N.ONT team is leading with a 3-1 record.
I’ll update everyone tomorrow or late tonight. You can also follow along if you wish on the OCA website – see the link on the lower right corner of the home page.
Sandy Simonits
