Newfoundland and Labrador’s representatives at the 2019 New Holland Canadian junior women’s curling championship in Prince Albert, Sask., saw their record fall to 1-3 Monday, but you can forgive Mackenzie Glynn and Co for feeling a little unlucky in not being .at least 500.
Glynn and St. John’s Curling Club (Re/Max Centre) teammates Sarah Chaytor, Katie Follett and Camille Burt fell 6-5 to New Brunswick Monday afternoon and for the second straight game, they suffered a loss by giving up a single point in the 10th and final end.
Then again, an 8-7 setback at the hands of Manitoba Sunday evening might have been even harder to take.
In that one, the Glynn rink, which is competing in its second straight Canadian juniors, trailed 5-0 heading into the fourth end, but scored four consecutive singles, the last three on steals, in an impressive rally. By the time the 10th end came around, the teams were tied 7-7, with the Manitobans holding last-rock advantage.
As the Manitoba skip prepared to throw her last rock, there were two stones — one for Manitoba and the other for Newfoundland — crowding the button.
There was some question among the Manitobans who had shot stone, but the final call was that they did indeed have the counter, and they went so far as to throw their last rock through the rings, thinking that if they attempted to make a shot anywhere close to the button, they might jostle their own enough to take it out of contention.
They turned out to be correct in their assessment … just.
The stones are the button were measured and Manitoba was declared closest to the pin, by scant millimetres.
Glynn has two more preliminary games remaining, including against the Northwest Territories in this morning’s draw.
The Canadian junior men’s championship is being held concurrently in Prince Albert.
In that competition, Greg Blyde’s rink from St. John’s is 2-2 after losing 11-4 to two-time defending champion Tyler Tardi of British Columbia on Monday.
The Blyde rink, which has west coasters Daniel Bruce throwing fourth stones, Ryan McNeil Lamswood at second and Nathan King at lead, takes on Saskatchewan tonight in its second-last preliminary game.
The junior nationals format sees each field split into two seven-team pools, with each rink playing six preliminary-round games. Finishes in the preliminary rounds determine which teams advance to the championship rounds and retain hopes for a title.
