Ontario Winter Games – Day 2

The cold temperatures in Muskoka/Orillia let up a bit for the second day of competition as Team Simonits took to the ice on March 1^st for its final two games.

First game up was against Wanless (1^st ONT), but we couldn’t beat them.  Final game was vs. Team Cull (3^rd N.ONT) our third place counterpart from the Northern Association.  We were seeded tied with them at 5^th/6th, and what do you know, it came down to this final game of the event to determine who would finish 5^th, and it was a close one.

So close in fact that the ontcurl website still hasn’t determined (as of Sunday March 2^nd) how to record the 8^th end.  But I was there, so I can tell you how it finished. In the 8^th end, we were behind 5-4 but had the hammer. Three rocks frozen side to side to side in the back four – one being ours and a few inches closer to the pin than their two.  Counting one, and potentially sending the game into an extra end, we took a risk to earn a second point by sliding one through the smallest of ports rubbing off one of the guards and freezing onto the front of our shotrock to win the game 6-5  –  and 5^th place.

Hall (2^nd ONT) won gold and will represent all of Ontario at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in B.C. (held once every four years).  Wanless (1^st. ONT) won silver. We (3^rd ONT) finished 5^th and the other three placings were filled by N. ONT teams. In the girls event, Team Smith, a N.ONT team won gold, MacMillan from Ottawa won silver and Caldwell out of St. Catharines Curling claimed bronze.  Lindsay Kastrau and her Team Holyoke from Guelph finished fourth.

We also received an invitation to participate in an all day Bantam high performance camp at the end of March conducted by Ontario’s high performance director.  The boys (Ryan Proc, Matthew McGuire, Bryan Freve and Alexander Simonits) look forward to this, as does Coach Dean McGuire as he’ll be in sessions all day as well.

In the interim, the boys are receiving a good schooling from the Open League teams as they have been in the middle of the pack in B flyte all year. Hey, we might be one of the best in Ontario for our age group, but against Dundas Valley teams we have a lot to learn.  Make no mistake, we appreciate every single game we play, and we’ve become a better team through these experiences.  Thank you to the adult teams at Dundas Valley for helping us along the journey.

Sandy Simonits, Team Manager