Former champion teams from La Salle and Pembina have won the 2024 Seagram’s Whisky Curling Club Championships.
Deb McCreanor and her La Salle team (Trisha Hill, Michelle Buchanan, Jennifer Cawson) won their third Manitoba Curling Club Championship with a 5-4 win Jennifer Clark-Rouire and her Fort Garry team (Karen Klein, Amanda Hickey, Kristie Moroz) Sunday afternoon in Gimli.
The McCreanor and Clark-Rouire teams had both finished with 4W-1L records in the same round-robin pool. McCreanor’s semi-final with Alyssa Calvert (Carberry) was a re-match of the only game the La Salle team had lost in the round-robin. The La Salle team won that second meeting 6-1. Clark-Rouire and her team, who had lost in the round-robin to McCreanor, won the quarter-final 8-5 over Joelle Brown (Fort Rouge) and the semi-final 6-3 over former champion Marlene Lang (St. Vital).
It was the third curling club championship for the team from La Salle Curling Club. McCreanor, with this same line-up, had previously won the event in 2018 and 2021.
In the men’s event, Zach Wasylik and his Pembina team (Jack Hykaway, Josh Harding, Graham Normand, Andrew Peck) needed an extra end to win 8-7 over Corey Chambers and his Fort Garry team (Ian Fordyce, Michael Martin, Brent McCrea, Dan Bender).
Wasylik’s team was the only foursome to run undefeated to the final in the two events. They had a 5W-0L record in the round-robin and defeated Kyle Foster (Arborg) in the Sunday afternoon semi-final. Chambers opened the round-robin with a pair of losses, including an 8-7 loss to Wasylik. The Fort Garry team rebounded to win five in a row, including the quarterfinal (3-2 over Kyle Einarson-Gimli) and the semi-final (5-3 over Ryan Hyde-Portage).
It was the second curling club championship for a team from Pembina Curling Club. Wasylik, with this same line-up, had previously won the event in 2022.
The two teams earned the opportunity to represent Manitoba in the fall of 2024 at the national championships in Barrie, ON.
