HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Team Homan unstoppable, wins record-extending 14th Grand-Slam curling title

By Martin Cleary

Ottawa Curling Club’s Rachel Homan and Rideau Curling Club’s Howard Rajala are Masters of their sport.

And they proved it at vastly different levels on Sunday.

By winning a record-extending 14th time on the Grand Slam of Curling tour, Homan guided her razor-sharp rink of third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes to the WFG Masters championship in Saskatoon’s Merlis Belsher Place arena.

It was the fourth time in the 11-year history of the Masters competition the Homan rink had emerged as champions. Homan also won in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Meanwhile at the Quinte Curling Club, Rajala and his rink of third Phil Daniel, second Chris Fulton and lead Paul Madden captured the Men’s Masters Provincial Championship.

Team Rajala, which had Rich Moffatt at third last year, won the 2023 world men’s senior curling championship.

Homan was a masterful shot maker in her seven matches, leading all women’s skips with a 90-per-cent shooting average. She had a team-high 88-per-cent grade in the championship final, where Team Homan defeated Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 8-4.

Continuing to collect her points quickly with multi-point ends, Homan counted four in the third end and three in the match-ending seventh before shaking hands one end early.

Homan picked up points in 26 of her 50 ends of curling, but in 15 of those ends she managed two, three or four points. Only two of Homan’s round-robin and playoff matches went to eight ends, including one extra-end game.

“It just feels so good,” Homan said. “We’ve put in so much work and trying to get back really quick, after both had babies on the team. It feels phenomenal to capture that after you’ve worked so hard to come back, after having two kids on the team.

“It’s a lot of work and I’m really proud of my team.”

Homan and Wilkes had babies in the off season and they have made a seamless return to the sport this fall.

Read More: Rachel Homan returning as full-time skip, after delivering third child

Team Homan has played in six competitions this season, posting a 32-4 win-loss record, reaching five finals and winning four titles.

The Masters win also earned Team Homan $38,000.

“We just come into all of these events trying to win as many games as we can,” said Miskew, who has been with Homan for every season since the team’s inception in 2002-03. “There are so many amazing teams here and it has been a great event.

“Rachel’s bounce back this season, just having a two-month-old, is unbelievable and amazing. I’m really grateful I’ve been along on the ride for so many years with her. Fourteen Slams is pretty impressive.”

Homan reached the Masters final by defeating Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg 8-4 (seven ends) in the semifinals and Isabella Wrana of Sweden 8-3 (six ends) in the quarterfinals.

Although Homan didn’t have the hammer in the first end for any of her four round-robin matches, she posted a 3-1 record to finish in a four-way tie for first place.

In her opening match, Homan stole all her points in ends two through five for a 6-1 decision over Clancy Grandy of Vancouver. She also defeated Tirinzoni 7-3 and Anna Hasselborg of Sweden 6-5 before losing to Eunjung Kim of Korea 8-6 in an extra end.

Meanwhile, the Rajala rink wasted no time scoring points and completing the Ontario Men’s Masters Championship final. Rajala defeated Dan Cleurinx of the York Curling Club in Newmarket 8-1 in five ends.

Having the hammer in the first end, Rajala counted four before strengthening his lead with one in the third and stealing two in the fourth and a solo point in the fifth.

It was the 12th time an Ottawa team had won the provincial men’s masters title. Bruce Delaney of the Russell Curling Club won in 2017 and 2016, and Layne Noble also was a double winner in 2014 with the Rideau Curling Club and 2011 with the Ottawa Curling Club. Rod Matheson of the Ottawa Curling Club completed a double in 2005 and 1997.

ANNA STEWART SKIS TO 2 GOLD, 1 SILVER IN CANDY CANE CUP

Nakkertok Ski Club’s Anna Stewart of Thunder Bay, ON., came within 20 seconds of being a triple gold medallist on her home course during the FIS Eastern Cup/Candy Cane Cup.

After winning the women’s open and U23 skate sprint on Friday and the two-lap interval skating race, which covered just under five kilometres, on Saturday, Stewart finished second to clubmate Clara Hegan in Sunday’s 10-kilometre interval classic race.

Stewart’s overall performance over three days earned her a $1,000 cheque from the Hall Mark of Excellence Program, which is sponsored by former Canadian cross-country ski team coach Marty Hall and his wife Kathy.

“Today’s (Saturday’s) race was interesting, very short course and super fast snow with the icy conditions made for quick times and sketchy downhills,” said Stewart, who trains at the Alberta Insurance World Cup Academy in Calgary.

“My body is getting a little tired from a fairly heavy month of racing, but I am looking forward to the 10K classic race tomorrow (Sunday).”

Hegan, who also represents Nakkertok but is based at the National Team Development Centre in Thunder Bay, placed first in the women’s open and U20 classic 10K and was 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Stewart at the finish.

“The weekend was really good and today went very well,” Hegan said. “It was great to see everyone out there. It’s nice to be racing at my home club.”

Nakkertok’s Luke Allan, a student-athlete at Dartmouth College, posted three top-five results, including two wins, which also rewarded him with a $1,000 cheque from the Hall Mark of Excellence Program.

Allan’s victories came on the first and last days of the three-day competition, which attracted 610 skiers from more than 50 clubs in six provinces and territories.

In the men’s open 10-kilometre classic, Allan crossed the finish line 22 seconds ahead of Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, who is skiing for Spain. On Friday, Allan won the men’s skate sprint final over the 1.3-kilometre course. He also was the top local skier in Saturday’s interval skate race, placing fifth.

“The course was amazing,” Allan said about Sunday’s 10-kilometre classic race. “There are two large uphills, which means you have to ski more tactically, but I had a really great day.”

The Candy Cane Cup was held on the Nakkertrak, a course serviced by artificial snowmaking equipment in Cantley, QC.

Meanwhile on the World Cup circuit in Trondheim, Norway, Katherine Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok placed 18th in the women’s 10-kilometre classic for her first top-20 result of the season.

“Nice to have some good feelings and happy to bounce back after yesterday’s (Saturday’s) skiathlon,” Stewart-Jones said. “Thanks to the techs for the fast skis and to the entire team for continuing to believe in me.”

She was disappointed with her 33rd-place result in the women’s 20-kilometre skiathlon (10 kilometres classic/10 kilometres skate).

Gatineau’s Antoine Cyr had a mixed bag of World Cup results – men’s free sprint, 43rd; 20-kilometre skiathlon, 21st; and 10-kilometre classic, 38th.

GENEVIÈVE MORRISON ON TRACK TO OLYMPIC WRESTLING BERTH

Geneviève Morrison of the National Capital Wrestling Club is one step away from representing Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

At the Canadian wrestling team trials in Edmonton, Morrison was stretched to the limit in her best-of-three series to win the women’s 50-kilogram freestyle class.

Morrison, who qualified her weight class for the 2016 Olympics but was defeated at the national team trials and missed the Rio Summer Games, will advance to the 2024 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier in Acapulco, Mexico, Feb. 28 to March 1.

At this past weekend’s team trials, Morrison defeated Katie Dutchak of the Saskatoon Wrestling Club 2-1 in their opening bout. But Dutchak evened the series and forced a decisive third match with a 4-2 decision in the second round.

The third and final bout saw Morrison produce another one-point win with a 3-2 score.

SILVER MEDAL FOR 3 SMITHS FALLS BEARS HOCKEY PLAYERS

A trio of Smiths Falls Bears players from the Central Canada Hockey League helped Canada East win the silver medal at the World Junior A Challenge in Truro, N.S.

After winning four of its first five games, Canada East qualified for the gold-medal final, but lost to Canada West 7-2. Canada East had defeated Canada West 5-2 in its four-game round-robin.

Second-year Bears defenceman Julien Wasmer and Dawson Labre, a second-year goalkeeper, and first-year Smiths Falls defenceman Davis Hails were on the Canada East roster for other wins over Slovakia 7-2, Sweden 5-0 and Sweden again in the semifinal 7-5.

Canada East lost only one game before the final, a 7-2 decision to the United States.

Wasmer scored one goal and added two assists for Canada East, while Hails picked up one assist. Labre was ranked second among goalkeepers in the Challenge with a 0.911 save percentage and was third in the goals-against average category at 3.05.

ALEXIS GUIMOND SCORES WORLD CUP PARA-ALPINE SILVER, BRONZE

Gatineau’s Alexis Guimond is off to a fast and productive start to this World Cup para-alpine ski season.

Racing at St. Moritz, Switzerland, Guimond won a pair of men’s downhill medals in the standing class.

On Sunday, he carried lots of speed and didn’t hesitate to take some risks aimed at winning, but placed second overall in one minute, 9.94 seconds. He was 1.59 seconds behind winner Robin Cuche of Switzerland.

Guimond won his first medal of the 2023-24 season Saturday, when he raced to a third-place downhill finish for the bronze in 1:11.60. Cuche also won that race in 1:09.10.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· Julie Brousseau of the Nepean-Kanata Barracudas Swim Club earned four women’s 18-and-under-class medals at the ninth Ontario Junior International short-course swimming meet in Toronto – women’s 200-metre individual medley, 2:08.20, gold; 800-metre freestyle, 8:29.00, silver; 100-metre freestyle, 54.22, bronze; and 100-metre breaststroke, 1:07.96, bronze.

· Two players from the Carleton University Ravens men’s soccer team were selected in the Canadian Premier League – U Sports Draft. Atletico Ottawa used the third pick in the first round to draft midfielder Luca Piccioli. Midfielder Amadou Kone was selected by Forge FC as the eighth choice in the second round or 16th overall. Former West Ottawa Warrior Jason Hartill of Carleton Place and the national-champion Cape Breton Capers was chosen in the second and 16th overall by York United FC.

· Two Ottawa players have been selected to play for Team Canada in the world junior U20 men’s hockey championship from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Sweden – forward Owen Allard and defender Oliver Bonk. Ottawa defender Jessica Cheung has also been chosen to wear the maple leaf for the world U18 women’s championship from Jan. 6-14 in Switzerland. Cheung’s Ottawa Senators lost their annual pre-Christmas showdown with the Nepean Wildcats 2-1 on Sunday in Kanata. That dropped the 13-9 Sens just behind 13-8-2 Nepean in the Ontario Women’s Hockey League U22 Elite standings.

· The Canadian women’s hockey team won its first game in the seven-game Rivalry Series on Saturday in Sarnia with a 3-2 overtime shootout decision over the United States. The Americans lead the series 3-1. The Canadian team roster included backup goaltender Kayle Osborne of Rideau Lakes, ON., and Colgate University, and three players from Ottawa’s team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League – forwards Brianne Jenner of Oakville, ON., and Emily Clark of Saskatoon and defender Ashton Bell of Deloraine, N.B.