Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by Photo Submitted

HEARTBREAK – Team Yukon Skip Sarah Koltun throws her rock during pre-qualifying action at the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, in St Catharines, Ont. Team Yukon was eliminated this morning, following a 9-7 loss to Team New Brunswick. Photo by CURLING CANADA/ANDREW KLAVER

Koltun rink out at Scotties; plays Nunavut this afternoon

It was heartbreak for Team Yukon at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts this morning in St. Catharines, Ont.

By Marissa Tiel on February 17, 2017

It was heartbreak for Team Yukon at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts this morning in St. Catharines, Ont.

Leading by one point after the ninth end, Team Koltun entered the 10th without the hammer.

A hit to score three by New Brunswick skip Melissa Adams sealed the young Yukon team’s fate, knocking them out of contention for the final spot in the Canadian women’s curling national championships.

A loss Thursday night to Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha and team means one last chance for Team Yukon to score a win before they head home.

Team Yukon, along with Northwest Territories, New Brunswick and Nunavut will play the final games of the unpopular pre-qualification round this afternoon.

This marks the final year that the draws will be in play, with the 2018 men’s and women’s nationals offering a full roster of teams from across the country in the main draw.

This afternoon the Adams rink (2-0) will take on Team NWT (2-0) to decide which team will advance to the main qualification pool.

Team Yukon (0-2) and Team Nunavut (0-2) will also play one final game.

Team Yukon, led by skip Sarah Koltun, includes third Chelsea Duncan, second Patty Wallingham and lead Jenna Duncan.

They last represented Yukon at the Scotties in 2015 and took a break last season from competition.

The players are mostly based out of the Vancouver area now where they are attending school.

In the fall, they joined a league and played together at least once a week.

The new year has been more of a logistical challenge, with one of the players living on Vancouver Island, but the women try to play together as often as they can.

They won the consolation final at the 2017 King Cash Spiel in Maple Ridge, B.C.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been to a competition like this,” Koltun told the Star of the team’s return to the Scotties earlier this week.

The Koltun rink was acclaimed as Yukon’s representative at nationals in January, when they were the only female rink to put their names forward.

The Yukon team for the Canadian men’s curling championships is skipped by Craig Kochan and includes Jon Solberg, Ray Mikkelsen and Darrin Fredrickson.

They will hit the ice for the Tim Hortons Brier pre-qualification March 2 in St. john’s, N.L.

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.