UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2:18 p.m.: Arndt fell 7-4 to Bartlett, who sealed the game with a steal of two in the final end, while Fitzgibbon also stole a deuce without hammer in the last end to beat Rempel 6-4. On the boys side, Beck downed Tomlinson 6-2 with handshakes after seven ends.
ORIGINAL STORY
Vernon鈥檚 Ava Arndt rink is one of six competing at the 2024 Safetek Profire BC U18 Girls Curling Championships which kicked off Wednesday morning in Victoria.
Arndt is joined on her team by fellow Vernon curling member Ivy Jensen, who throws second stones, and the Evans sisters from Kamloops, Bethany at third and Jillian at lead. Alicia Evans is listed as the alternate. The team won the gold medal at the Vernon Curling Club at the 2023 B.C. Winter Games in March.
The six teams will play a round-robin before the playoffs. Arndt opened at 11 a.m. against Hannah Bartlett.
Megan Rempel鈥檚 琉璃神社 squad, which includes Parker Rempel at third, Gwyneth Jones at second, and Ella Walker at lead,
opened against Erin Fitzgibbon at 11 a.m. Rempel won silver at the B.C. Winter Games.
The U18 Girls draws go at 8 p.m. Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, and 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 29. The semifinal is set for 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, followed by the gold-medal game at 2 p.m.
The Safetek Profire BC U18 Boys championships are also being held at the Victoria Curling Club.
Half of the defending champions from Salmon Arm are back to defend their title. Skip Kaiden Beck and his brother Nolan, at second, are joined by Lower Mainland teammates Ethan Chiu at third and Harrison Hrynew at lead.
Salmon Arm is also represented in the 11-team boys draw by the Austin Tomlinson (skip) rink, which also includes Elias Rands at third, Ben Froese and second, and Noah Longland at lead.
The two Shuswap rivals meet in the event鈥檚 opening draw at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
琉璃神社鈥檚 Owen Jaeger, backed by third Spencer Rempel, second Noah Wielgosz, and lead Brenden Hruschak, was one of five teams to receive a first-round bye. Jaeger will face the winner of Beck-Tomlinson in their opening match Wednesday at 8 p.m.
The Beck brothers, with Rands and Alex Watkins, won gold in Vernon at the B.C. Winter Games, defeating Jaeger in the championship.
The boys are on the ice at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 8 p.m. Wednesday; 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m. Saturday. The playoffs go Sunday at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Live streaming of the matches can be found .
The provincial champions on both sides will move on to the Canadian finals in Ottawa.
BC MIXED DOUBLES
The 2024 provincial championship rounds out the trifecta of playdowns going on at the Victoria Curling Club.
The Vernon father-daughter combo of Jim and Jaelyn Cotter are among the 20 teams taking part, as is Vernon skip Michael Longworth and his partner, Morgayne Eby.
Play started Wednesday, and the championship game is set for Sunday, Dec. 31. Games are also being livestreamed at the above link.
