Making their mark

Why can’t our curling team have pants like that?

The U of R curling squads prove their worth

Article: Paige Kreutzwieser – Staff Writer

[dropcaps round=”no”]T[/dropcaps]ime to dust off those brooms – curling season has officially started at the U of R.

Although the men’s and women’s teams have been decided, not much has changed from last year.

Both teams are once again skipped by the Schneider brother and sister duo. Catlin will be calling the shots for the men, while his younger sister, Lorraine, will be skipping the women.

“We know the ins and outs of Westerns and how fun it is and we are hoping that we can make it back there,” said Lorraine on Thursday before the Qualifying Spiel final.

And make it back she did. Lorraine, Callan Hamon, Tessa Vibe and Ashley Desjardins were able to win the Q-Spiel for their third consecutive year.

Before the game, Lorraine mentioned about how special it would be to once again go to Canada West play downs in Edmonton with her brother.

“It would definitely be a great experience and it is kind of special and unique. I don’t know if a brother and sister skipping happens very often,” she said.

Fortunately for both teams, they get a berth straight to the CIS/CAA Nationals, which are being held in Regina in March. Hosting nationals means the home club gets to place both a men’s and a women’s team automatically into the draw.

“We don’t really get to travel anywhere, but it’s still a cool experience and we are at our home club which is even better,” said Lorraine.

For the men’s team, it’s been an even easier ride so far. Catlin, Rory McCusker, Mathew Ring, and Brendon Ryan had no other team to compete against in the Q-Spiel, meaning they automatically became the U of R team.

“It’s not like any other varsity sport where you go to a different school and play once a week,” said Ring. “All we have is Canada West, so we just kind of play games against teams in the city here to practice.”

And, although both teams get the direct entrance into nationals, they still want to prove themselves to their university competition.

“It’s not like we are going to Edmonton to just practice,” said Ring. “We still have expectations to do well and compete.”

Lorraine also commented on the fact that the girls side had limited competition as well.

“I wish there were more teams,” she said. “I feel sometimes that yes, I’m going to Westerns, but I don’t have to win much to get there. I think it would be more special if we had to compete [with more teams]. I just think competition is exciting and it is also really good for you before you go to things like Westerns.”

Last year’s men’s team was quickly thrown together, but this year three of the boys are competing in leagues around the city to be more prepared.

Both teams are looking to have better luck this year in Westerns but all they really want to do is make their mark.

“Our goal is definitely to try and make a statement to other teams on the Western stage before we go to Nationals,” said Ring.

CIS/CAA Nationals will be held from March 19 – 23.

[button style=”e.g. solid, border” size=”e.g. small, medium, big” link=”http://blogs.ublabs.org” target=”new window”]Image: ublabs.org[/button]