How about the Quebec entry from the Thurso Curling Club?
“To be honest our first goal was to get out of that relegation round so we wouldn’t have Quebec down near the bottom next year,” said Quebec skip Catherine Derick in reference to the bottom four teams from this year’s championship having to qualify for next year’s main draw by going through a relegation round. “Now our goal obviously is to finish in the top three, and try to get one of the playoff spots.”
Derick, third stone Sylvia Daniel, second stone Chantal Gadoua and lead Cheryl Morgan have quietly accumulated a 6-2 (won-lost) record in round-robin play, good enough for second place behind Colleen Pinkney’s undefeated Nova Scotia rink from the Truro Curling Club.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Derick following Quebec’s 13-1 triumph over the Northwest Territories’ Ann McKellar-Gillis on Wednesday night. “This is the first time in senior competition for all of us, and it’s our second’s first national, so that’s quite exciting for her.
“Every game we just seem to play a little better. The week is going well.”
After losing to Ontario’s Judy Oryniak 11-4 on Monday night, Quebec has won three straight. Quebec’s other loss – 6-4 – came to Nova Scotia on Sunday afternoon.
When asked if there was any particular key to the rink’s success in Summerside, Derick didn’t hesitate to talk about the friendship that exists between team members.
“To be honest our first goal was to get out of that relegation round so we wouldn’t have Quebec down near the bottom next year. Now our goal obviously is to finish in the top three, and try to get one of the playoff spots.” - Quebec skip Catherine Derick
“The success is because we are best friends first, and then the curling comes second,” said Derick, who is skipping for the first time in many years. “We don’t get angry with each other on the ice for losses. We just try to keep smiling.”
Pinkney won both her games on Wednesday – 7-1 over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Laura Phillips and 9-7 over Saskatchewan’s Cathy Inglis in an extra end.
It was also a big day for Alberta’s Deb Santos of the St. Albert Curling Club. Santos’ two wins – 9-4 over Ontario and 8-7 over Manitoba’s Lois Fowler – moved her into a third-place tie with Manitoba and New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon. All three rinks are 5-3.
It was a tough day for Manitoba, which also lost 8-6 to British Columbia’s Karen Lepine in the afternoon draw.
New Brunswick split its games – losing 11-5 to Quebec in the morning and defeating P.E.I.’s Nola Murphy rink from the host Silver Fox 10-3 in the evening draw.
Murphy, third stone Donna Arsenault, second stone Elspeth Carmody and lead Laurie Tirone counted four points with the hammer in the ninth end to break a 6-6 tie and go on to defeat the Northwest Territories 10-6 for their first win in the afternoon draw.
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