Three teams still unbeaten at M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors

Two women’s teams and one men’s team remain undefeated at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Calgary, after sixth draw action Monday afternoon. Alberta, skipped by Nadine Chyz of Calgary, outnodded Yukon (Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse), 6-4, stealing a crucial deuce in the ninth end for the hard-fought decision, to move into sole possession of first place with a 6-0 mark. Right behind her, though, is Saskatchewan’s Trish Paulsen of Saskatoon, at 5-0, after enjoying an afternoon bye. British Columbia, skipped by last year’s runner-up Dailene Sivertson of Victoria, kept pace with an 11-2 thrashing of Northwest Territories (Taryn Williams of Yellowknife) to improve to 4-1. Ontario (Clancy Grandy of Waterloo) lost a little ground, though, losing to New Brunswick’s Jennifer Armstrong of Fredericton, 12-5, to fall to 3-2. In other games, Prince Edward Island’s Sarah Fullerton of Cornwall defeated Northern Ontario (Kendra Lilly of Sudbury), 10-6; Quebec’s Alanna Routledge of Montreal was a 10-4 winner over Newfoundland/Labrador’s Erin Porter of St. John’s and Manitoba’s Breanne Meakin of Winnipeg blasted Nova Scotia’s Lindsay Doucet of Chester, also by a 10-4 score. The results left New Brunswick, Yukon, PEI and Manitoba all at 3-3, followed by Nova Scotia at 2-3, Quebec at 2-4, Northern Ontario at 1-4, Newfoundland/Labrador at 1-5 and winless Northwest Territories at 0-5. On the men’s side, Saskatchewan’s Braeden Moskowy, last year’s third place finisher, had the afternoon bye to remain at 5-0. Newfoundland/Labrador’s Colin Thomas of St. John’s moved to 5-1 after beating Quebec (Vincent Bourget of Baie Comeau), 7-3. Meanwhile, New Brunswick, skipped by Jon Rennie of Fredericton, moved into contention at 4-2 with a 6-3 victory over Ontario’s Mat Camm of Ottawa, who dropped to 3-2, along with Nova Scotia’s Kendal Thompson of Halifax, who edged Manitoba (Sam Good of Stonewall), 8-7 in an extra end. New Brunswick opened with a single, then proceeded to steal the next three ends for a 4-0 lead. Ontario responded with two in the fifth, then stole one themselves in the sixth to narrow the margin to 4-3, but that was as close as they got. “We controlled the game for five ends, then we started playing defensively after that,” said Rennie, who is making his third appearance at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors. The 20-year-old skipped New Brunswick in 2008 in Sault Ste. Marie, finishing with a 4-8 record, then was 7-5 in Salmon Arm, while playing third for Steve Burgess. This year, Rennie is once again calling the game but throwing third stones, with Josh Barry, who skipped New Brunswick to a 5-7 mark last year in Sorel-Tracy, throwing fourth rocks. After New Brunswick took one in the eighth for a 5-3 lead, Ontario blanked the ninth. In the 10th end, at one point it looked like Ontario might be able to count two and force an extra end, but when Camm ticked a guard with his first stone, it was all but over. “I definitely thought coming into this event that we could make the playoffs and if we made the playoffs, we could re-evaluate then,” continued Rennie. “I think we’re in a good spot for that right now. We’ve played some tough teams so I’m happy with our record.” In other games, Yukon, skipped by 16-year-old Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, blasted Alberta (Colin Hodgson of Calgary), stealing four in the sixth end, then five in the seventh, for a 10-1 rout. Northwest Territories (Colin Miller of Yellowknife) won its first, 11-4 over British Columbia (Jonathan Gardner of Vernon) while Northern Ontario (Cody Johnston of Thunder Bay) proved an 8-6 winner over Prince Edward Island (Spencer Pitre of Charlottetown). That leaves Yukon and Alberta now at 3-3, British Columbia and Northern Ontario at 2-3, Quebec and Manitoba at 2-4, Northwest Territories at 1-4 and Prince Edward Island at 1-5. Play continues with Draw 7 at 5:30 pm MT at the North Hill and 6:30 pm at the Glencoe. -30-