Austin Connelly, For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – All three MacEwan Griffins curling teams are in position to qualify for the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championship as they hit the ice for the Winter Regional this weekend at Avonair Curling Club.
In a format that combines their records from the Fall Regional with their records this weekend and awards spots to the top four teams in each discipline, the Griffins enter the weekend with all three squads in a playoff position.
"Well overall, I expect that we're going to get all three teams to qualify for provincials," says Griffins head coach Tom Kitagawa. "The men are in a good spot, the mixed are in a good spot – the ladies, they've got a little bit more work cut out for them, going 3-3 (in fall regionals).
After securing gold at the ACAC Championship after an 11-1 run through regionals a year ago – a season which ended in a silver-medal performance at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Conference championship – Griffins women's rink has some work left to continue their 2019-20 season.
Currently in a three-way tie for third position, they will look to climb the leaderboard this weekend. The rink of skip Ashton Simard, third Erin Wells, second Andie Kurjata, lead Taitan Hagglund, and alternate Megan Berg only must remember back a year ago when they went 6-0 at the same Winter Regional event.
"Coming in as the CCAA silver medalist and provincial champion, you've got a little bit of a target on your back," says Kitagawa. "You know, (the competition thinks) we got to play really well to beat these guys, they're good, and so the opposition rises up."
The women will kick off the Winter Regional with matches against Olds (3:30 p.m.) and Concordia (7:30 p.m.), continue play on Saturday versus Lakeland (9 a.m.), NAIT (5:30 p.m.), and Augustana (8:30 p.m.) and finish the weekend against Red Deer (9 a.m.) on Sunday.
"The ladies will have to kind of pick it up a couple of notches," says Kitagawa. "If they go 5-1 or better – guaranteed in; 4-2, they'll have a really good shot, and 3-3, you're hoping the right team wins or loses."
After coming up short in their bid to make the ACAC Championship as a first-year last season, the men's team of skip Riley Ross, third Jordan Geiger, second Brandon Rubisch and rookie lead Joel MacDonald enters the weekend in a four-way tie atop the standings after going 4-2 at the Fall Regional.
"I'm expecting we go 4-2 again," say Kitagawa on the stiff competition from the top-heavy men's division.
After going 1-5 at last year's Fall Regional, the men's team has taken a huge leap this season and are sitting in a much better spot entering the Winter Regional this time around.
The Griffins men's rink kicks off the weekend with Friday games against NAIT (3:30 p.m.) and Concordia (7:30 p.m.), before facing Red Deer (9 a.m.), Lakeland (5:30 p.m.), and SAIT (8:30 p.m.) on Saturday and finishing up against Olds (12:30 p.m.) on Sunday.
The Griffins' newly-created mixed team of skip Rebecca Bartz, third Brandt Holt, second Brennin Turner, lead Zale Zabolotniuk and alternate Rachael Hansen are also in a good position entering the weekend after going 3-2 at the Fall Regional, which puts them in a three-way tie for second.
"They've come together really well in my estimation," says Kitagawa. "They've developed a relationship with each other (playing in other competitions together), which is good."
That includes Bartz and Hansen, who found chemistry playing together in the junior ladies' competition, where they qualified for the provincial championships.
The mixed team will start their matches on Friday versus UAlberta-Augustana (3:30 p.m.), before three games on Saturday against Red Deer (9 a.m.), NAIT (12:30 p.m.), and SAIT (8:30 p.m.), and will cap off their weekend versus Lakeland (9 a.m.) on Sunday.
The ACAC Championship will be hosted by Red Deer College Feb. 28 to March 1. Should the Griffins qualify out of that, they'll head to the 2020 CCAA national championship, which is set for Portage La Prairie, Man. March 11-15.
