Corryn Brown’s British Columbia team defeated Manitoba’s Shannon Birchard 6-3 on Sunday night to win the women’s Canadian junior curling championships.
Brown’s team of 17-year-olds — third Erin Pincott, second Sam Fisher and lead Sydney Fraser — will represent Canada later this month at the world juniors in Sochi, Russia.
It was B.C.’s first gold medal at the tournament since 1987 when Julie Sutton won her second straight with a victory in Prince Albert, Sask.
The national event, co-hosted by Fort McMurray Oilsands Curling Club and MacDonald Island Park, saw 120 athletes and coaches from 10 provinces and three territories and hundreds of parents descend on Fort McMurray along with the thousands of spectators that attended at CNRL Arena 2 and Fort McMurray Oilsands Curling Club.
A number of notable attendees were part of the 2013 Juniors, including TSN SportsCentre anchor Dan O’Toole, who acted as on-ice Master of Ceremonies for the men’s and women’s Finals and Closing Ceremonies. Six-time Canadian and two-time world women’s champion Colleen Jones was on the sidelines in support of her son, Nova Scotia men’s second Luke Saunders, while Fort McMurray native and Cheryl Bernard rink second Lori Olson-Johns delivered the keynote address at the Canadian Junior Curling Association Awards Banquet on February 8.
Photo courtesy of MacDonald Island’s Facebook page
