By John Hodge
Selena Sturmay’s team from the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton and Jordon McDonald’s team from the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in Winnipeg won the Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials on Sunday in Wolfville, N.S.
The seven-day tournament featured eight women's and eight men’s teams looking to earn the final berths in next month’s Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax. After a full round-robin, the two first-place teams advanced straight to their respective best-of-three finals, with the second-place and third-place teams meeting in the semifinal round.
Sturmay, who finished fourth at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2024, finished atop the women’s standings at 5-2 despite coming into the event as the fourth-ranked team. Her squad, which features third Danielle Schmiemann, second Dezaray Hawes, and lead Paige Papley, cumulatively shot 85 per cent during the round-robin, which ranked first among the women.
Kayla MacMillan from the Victoria Curling Club in Victoria, and Ashley Thevenot from the Martensville Curling Club in Martensville, Sask., who entered the week as the second and fifth seeds, respectively, met in the semifinal where MacMillan stole two in the seventh end to help secure a 6-4 victory.
Sturmay won the first matchup of the final over MacMillan by a score of 8-5. The Alberta-based team took a stranglehold in the matchup thanks to a steal in the fifth end and a score of three in the seventh end. Schmiemann shot a game-high 83 per cent, though neither team was particularly sharp.
MacMillan won the second game of the final 10-9 thanks to a steal of five in the seventh end when Sturmay’s open draw slid too far. The second-year skip, who took over her rink from Clancy Grandy last season, outshot Sturmay by 12 per cent head-to-head to force game three of the best-of-three final.
After forcing MacMillan to take one in the first, Sturmay scored six points over the next four ends — a deuce followed by three straight steals. With the game already almost out of reach, Sturmay’s squad added a three in the seventh end to clinch what ended up being a 9-4 victory. MacMillan shot 56 per cent in the final with her team finishing 11 per cent behind Sturmay’s squad.
Braden Calvert, a former world junior champion out of the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg, entered the event as the fourth seed on the men’s side but finished atop the standings with a 5-2 round-robin record. His team, which features third Corey Chambers, second Kyle Kurz, and lead Brendan Bilawka, cumulatively shot 85 per cent during the round-robin, which ranked third among the men.
Jordan McDonald and Scott Howard, who entered the week as the first and third seeds, respectively, met in the semifinal, where Howard held the upper hand until a disastrous final shot. Instead of removing two McDonald stones and sitting for the game-winning point, Howard rolled out of the rings after undercurling down the centreline path. He made contact with both McDonald rocks, but one of them jammed on a stone behind the house to sit for a steal and a 5-4 victory. The team had also stolen a point in the ninth end, making for an unlikely comeback.
McDonald won the first game of the best-of-three final against Calvert in one-sided fashion. The young rink, which includes McDonald, third Jacques Gauthier, second Elias Huminicki, and lead Cameron Olafson, scored three in the second end and four in the eighth end, which forced Calvert to concede the game with the score 10-5. McDonald curled 92 per cent as a team, with the skip finishing at a team-high 95 per cent.
Calvert won the second game of the final 8-5 after securing steals in ends three, eight, and nine. The 30-year-old native of Brandon, Man. outcurled McDonald head-to-head by 23 per cent, though Calvert’s team percentage was only three per cent better than the opposition.
McDonald had an impressive bounce-back game in the rubber match of the best-of-three final, throwing 90 per cent to win the game 8-5. After trading deuces to start the game, Calvert was forced to a single in the fifth, after which McDonald was able to open a three-point lead. This advantage held as he ran the opposition out of rocks in the 10th and final end.
With the fields for the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax, N.S. now set, they will be as follows. The event will take place Nov. 22-30 at the Scotiabank Centre, a 10,000-seat arena that plays host to the Halifax Mooseheads.
WOMEN'S DIVISION
• Rachel Homan
• Kerri Einarson
• Kaitlyn Lawes
• Kayla Skrlik
• Kate Cameron
• Christina Black
• Corryn Brown
• Selena Sturmay
MEN'S DIVISION
• Brad Jacobs
• Brad Gushue
• Matt Dunstone
• Mike McEwen
• Kevin Koe
• John Epping
• Rylan Kleiter
• Jordon McDonald
