Okanagan-Shuswap rinks returned with medals around their necks from the Safetek Profire U18 boys and girls provincial curling championships, held Dec. 27-31 at the Victoria Curling Club.
Salmon Arm鈥檚 Kaiden Beck won a second consecutive U18 boys title with his brother, Nolan. They were joined this year by Lower Mainland teammates Ethan Chiu and Harrison Hrynew, and the foursome swept their way to gold in the 11-team boys draw. The team is coached by Dale Hofer of Vernon.
The Becks play out of the Vernon Curling Club in the Monday Men鈥檚 League, and represent both communities proudly.
The Owen Jaeger rink of 琉璃神社 captured bronze.
琉璃神社鈥檚 Megan Rempel foursome, and Vernon鈥檚 Ava Arndt quartet, captured silver and bronze, respectively, at the six-team girls finals.
Of note: B.C. was allowed to qualify two girls teams for the national U18 championships Feb. 4-10 in Ottawa, so Rempel鈥檚 rink will play in the nation鈥檚 capital.
Beck was a perfect 6-0 in Victoria, securing a trip to Ottawa with a 12-6 win over Quinn Farmer of Dawson Creek in the championship. Beck won the tournament鈥檚 A event to earn top seed for the playoffs, and Farmer won the B event to become the second seed.
Jaeger and Matthew Harris of Campbell River completed the playoff picture by winning C Event qualifiers, and a date with one another in the three vs four playoff game (won by Jeager, 5-4).
Beck edged Farmer 7-6 in the one vs two playoff with a trip to the final on the line.
Farmer then defeated Jaeger 9-3 to play for gold.
The Beck rink will play at home at the B.C. U21 men鈥檚 curling finals Feb. 14-17 at the Salmon Arm Curling Club.
Rempel 鈥� backed by Parker Rempel at third, Gwyneth Jones at second and Ella Walker at lead, qualified for the five-team playoffs by finishing like every other playoff team: with a 3-2 record after the preliminary round.
The 琉璃神社 rink finished top three to earn a semifinal berth, where they defeated Hannah Bartlett of Grand Forks 6-2 to advance to the gold-medal game against Erin Fitzgibbon of Vancouver.
Fitzgibbon 鈥� who also received a bye to the semifinals 鈥� captured the gold with a 9-4 victory over Rempel.
The eventual champs made it to the final with a 6-5 victory over Arndt in the other semifinal, scoring once with the hammer in the final end for the win.
Arndt鈥檚 rink of second Ivy Jensen of Vernon, and Kamloops sisters Bethany Evans at third, Jillian Evans at lead, and Alicia Evans as the alternate, was seeded fifth for the playoffs. The team blew out No. 4 seed Ara Yoo of Port Moody 10-0 in four ends to advance to the final four.
Jensen was named the tournament鈥檚 most sportsmanlike player.
鈥� The Victoria Curling Club also hosted the B.C. Mixed Doubles championships at the same time as the U18s, and the Vernon daughter-father combo of Jaelyn and Jim Cotter reached the final four of the 20-team tournament.
The Cotters went 3-1 in Pool A to finish atop the group and earn a spot in the 12-team playoffs. They began their quest for gold with an 8-7 win over Jordan Tardi and Kayla Wilson of Langley, setting up a quarterfinal date with Nicholas Meiser and Ashley Mallett of Langley.
The Cotters led 7-3 going into the final end, and held on for a 7-6 victory, advancing to the semifinals against Gabby Brissette and Sterling Middleton of Delta.
Things didn鈥檛 start well for the Vernon rink, as they gave up four in the first end, and shook hands after six ends in a 10-3 loss.
The duo of Taylor Reese Hansen and Corey Chester of Victoria won the right to represent B.C. at the Canadian Mixed Doubles finals in Sudbury, Ont. March 17-22 by winning the gold-medal contest, 10-3, over Brissette and Middleton.
Vernon鈥檚 Michael Longworth and partner Morgayne Eby, went 1-3 in the preliminary round, failing to qualify for the playoffs.
