Team Samagalski wins Provincial Mixed Curling title
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- Published on Monday, March 28, 2016
(L to R) Kyle Einarson, Kerri Einarson, Jennifer Clark-Rouire and skip Derek Samagalski of the Gimli Curling Club won the 2016 Chicken Chef Mixed Provincial Curling Championship on Sunday, Mar. 27, at the Neepawa Curling Club.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner
A thrilling weekend of competition at the Neepawa Curling Club was capped off on Sunday, Mar. 27, with the crowning of new mixed provincial curling champions. Team Samagalski, of the Gimli Curling Club defeated Team Calvert from Fort Rouge 3-2 in the final of the Chicken Chef Mixed Provincial Championship.
The team consists of skip Derek Samagalski, third Kerri Einarson, second Kyle Einarson and lead Jenn Clark-Rouire. They now have the opportunity to represent Manitoba at the Canadian Mixed Championships, scheduled for November 12 to 19 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
The win is actually the second provincial championship this year for Kerri Einarson, as she also the skip for the reigning provincial women's curling champions. Samagalski meanwhile, also serves as a second for the team lead by Reid Carruthers.
In the final of the Mixed Provincials, Samagalski was able to take a 2-0 lead early, after a third end steal of one, but the Calvert team was able to take a point back in the fourth end. After blanking the fifth, Samagalski narrowly missed a double take-out in the sixth, that could have secured three points. But instead, it gave up a steal of one to Calvert, making it a 2-2 game. The seventh end was blanked, which allowed Samagalski to enter the eighth and final end with the hammer. His team was able to secure a single point to ensure the victory. Samagalski said it was a very tight contest.
“Both teams were giving it all they had. I had a chance in the sixth end to make a shot for two or three, but just missed it. That turned into a steal of one. After that, we simply buckled down and focused on making our shots. We blanked the seventh and coming home in the final end of a provincial final with the hammer, you can’t ask for more. I was a little lucky that they came up a little light on the draw for their final shot, so I didn’t have to throw my final rock. But, it was a hard fought game. We couldn’t be more happy with the result. So proud of the team and the effort they put forth. They made me look good out there,” said Samagalski.
As for the efforts of the Neepawa Curling Club in hosting the festivities, it was very well received. Curl Manitoba director Ray Baker commended the organizing committee for the impressive weekend it put together.
“I thought it was awesome. The field of competition was top notch. I think it was the strongest field we’ve ever seen,” said Baker. “It was a great effort put on by the host committee, talking with the teams, they’ve been nothing but complimentary about the ice and just of the community in general. Neepawa should be proud of what it did with the event.”
Host committee member Wanda Rainka noted that the work of the volunteers was greatly appreciated. She said with their tireless work, the Championship could not have been as successful as it ended up being.
“We worked a long time to ensure we were ready for this event. [The host committee] had a really good base of volunteers step up to help us out. It helps also when you have great competition out there. We had some fans out, which was really nice to see, so we’re pleased with the response,” stated Rainka.
The enthusiasm of the weekend was bolstered by the involvement of two local teams, in the form of Jerry Chudley and Jeff Stewart. Chudley’s team, which consists of Tina Kozak, Brent McKee and Andrea Smith, competed very well, but was unable to advance to the playoff portion of the event. As for Stewart, whose team includes Terry Ursel, Ron Kulbacki and Darla Hanke, They started the weekend slowly with a pair of defeats. They rebounded however, with several wins and advanced into the quarter final portion of the playoff. Their weekend would come to an end halted by the hands of eventually finalist, Fort Rouge’s Braden Calvert.
