By Dan Plouffe
In October, their streak of finishing as top Canadian team in each event they’ve entered came to an end on local ice, but Team Homan rebounded in a big way by beating a world-class field at the $100,000 Masters of Curling event in Abbotsford, B.C.
And by the time Dec. 1 rolls around, all the previous results will thrown out the window as Lisa Weagle, Alison Kreviazuk, Emma Miskew and Rachel Homan of the Ottawa Curling Club shoot for their first Olympic trip at the Roar of the Rings Canadian trials in Winnipeg.
“We have certain goals at each event to try to build up,” Kreviazuk explains. “We may focus on communication one weekend, so it’s not all about the outcome. It’s the little things we need to improve on to make that outcome happen later.”
For their Oct. 24-27 Challenge Château Cartier de Gatineau World Curling Tour competition, it was an opportunity to have east-coact curler Heather Smith-Dacey join the team for some game action. Smith-Dacey will act as the team’s fifth, on call to step in if needed at any point during a voyage that could end in Sochi.
On that weekend, Team Homan was outshone by some other budding local talent, losing in the semi-final to Lisa Farnell’s rink that includes Ottawa natives Erin Morrissey and Karen Sagle. Farnell won the $15,000 event over the young Ottawa-based rink of skip Katie Morrissey, Erin’s sister, Shannon Harrington, Cassandra de Groot and Kiri Campbell.
But Team Homan flexed its muscles in a big way the next weekend, knocking off 2012 world champion Mirjam Ott in the semi-finals and 2013 world champ Eve Muirhead 7-5 in the championship game en route to the title in the first grand slam of the season.
“It’s been pretty good so far,” Kreviazuk says of their season. “Hopefully by the end of the next couple weekends, we’ll be building a little more momentum.
“It’s difficult to peak in December, so we’re really trying to organize the schedule and get everything sorted out. We’ve included a lot more practices. We’ve got a really condensed schedule.”
Olympic trials go Dec. 1-8
Rest and recovery in order to be in peak form for trials is a major emphasis for the team, the Team Homan second underlines. Weagle and Kreviazuk have been off their regular jobs since the start of fall, while Miskew and Homan, already on reduced hours, will join them soon as full-time curlers.
Limited travel for events is another component of the plan. There’s one more trip to Saskatoon Nov. 15-18, then comes the big show for Canada’s lone Olympic berth Dec. 1-8.
“It’s coming soon,” Kreviazuk smiles. “It’s exciting. I think we’re all kind of getting anxious.”
Ottawa’s Craig Savill, lead for the Glenn Howard rink, was also a champion, on the men’s side, at the Masters of Curling competition.