HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan captures 2nd Ontario U18 title in 3 years

By Martin Cleary

Katrina Frlan stepped confidently into her third straight Ontario girls’ under-18 curling championship last week at the Mount Forest Curling Club, having won the title in 2023 and reaching the 2024 finals.

On the opening day, however, her conviction was abruptly shaken, after a critical first-match defeat in the eight-team round-robin competition, which would determine two teams for next month’s Canadian championship in Saskatoon.

But that opening loss for the Huntley Curling Club team turned out to be the hidden spark that Frlan needed to guide her girls to a second provincial title in three years.

“Honestly, it was one of the better things that happened. It made us wake up and play better,” Frlan said in a phone interview Monday afternoon, which was about 24 hours after a seven-end, 6-4 victory over Charlotte Wilson of the Rideau Curling Club in the championship final.

“Ever since that moment, we made so many good shots, we communicated well and we battled.”

The Frlan rink, which is completed by third Erika Wainwright, second Samantha Wall and lead Lauren Norman, played well enough to win its opener, but couldn’t make the important shots at the right time. Instead, the calm rink from the Barrie Curling Club made the critical, point-scoring shots and posted a 7-5 win, stealing five of those points over four ends.

“We didn’t make the key shots, when we needed to. It helped us look in the mirror to realize we’ve got to make those shots, if we want to win the provincial championship.”

That pep talk and attitude adjustment prevented the Frlan rink from losing another game. Six matches later, Frlan finished on top of the round-robin standing with a 6-1 record, which guaranteed it a berth in the Ontario U18 final and a spot in the Canadian championships Feb. 16-22 at Saskatoon’s eight-sheet Nutana Curling Club.

The Ontario girls’ final saw Frlan outscore the Rideau rink of Wilson, Amelia Benning, Abigail Rushton and Sydney Anderson 6-4. The Wilson rink also qualified for nationals as Ontario’s No. 2 team.

Frlan led 2-0 after three ends, but posted twos in each of the fifth and sixth ends for a commanding 6-1 advantage. Wilson counted three with the hammer in the seventh but conceded before the final rocks were thrown.

Besides having two girls’ rinks wear Team Ontario jackets at the U18 nationals, the Ottawa curling community also will be represented by two players on the provincial-wining boys’ team at the Canadian championships.

Tyler MacTavish of the Kitchener-Waterloo Granite Curling Club won his second Ontario boys’ title in a row with a 9-2 win over Ryne Fisher of the Uxbridge Curling Club in seven ends. This year, MacTavish added Ottawa players Connor Elkins as lead and Liam Rowe as third to his roster.

As 2023 Ontario champions, Frlan was looking for a second consecutive provincial title last year. She qualified for the final, but lost to Dominique Vivier of Navan. In the second final for the Ontario No. 2 spot at nationals, Team Frlan fell to Ava Acres of RCMP.

Frlan, however, competed at nationals at the R.A. Centre for Curling Excellence as an alternate for the Vivier team, but her rink was upset in the quarter-finals. Acres went on to win bronze at the nationals.

This year, the round-robin winner automatically qualified for the Canadian championship. The winner of the only semifinal became the second Ontario team at nationals. The round-robin and semifinal winners played for the provincial title. Acres went 4-3 at the event and lost 7-5 in a tiebreaker for a spot in the semifinal.

“Our one goal from the beginning of the season was to win provincials,” said Frlan, a Grade 12 student at All Saints Catholic High School. “We did that two years ago and we knew we were capable of doing it again.

“We had one girl different last year (Wall), and we wanted to finish our U18s with a bang, especially after the disappointment of last year. We wanted the banner. We wanted the heart. We wanted the heart plaque.

“We were really connected as a team. We communicated well. We built off the momentum of our first win and we kept building off that.”

The Frlan rink has more than a month to prepare for the Canadian U18 championships, but during that time the same squad will aim for another provincial title and nationals’ berth at the Ontario U20 championship at the Royal Kingston Curling Club Jan. 29 to Feb. 2.

ALEX THERIEN, KATE VIEL HELP CANADA TO WORLD U18 HOCKEY GOLD

Undefeated Canada shut out the United States 3-0 to win its eighth gold medal at the world women’s U18 hockey championship in Vantaa, Finland.

It was the 14th time the two countries have met in the final and the series is now deadlocked at 7-7.

A pair of defenders from Ottawa played keys roles in Canada winning the world title.

Alex Therien earned an assist on Canada’s second goal in the final, which was scored by Dorothy Copetti in the third period. The Nepean Junior Wildcats U22 player picked up one goal, three assists, four penalty minutes and a +6 rating in six games.

Kate Viel, who plays for the Lady Sens U22 team, registered one goal, four assists and a +8 rating in her six games.

Canada reached the final defeating Slovakia 6-2, Switzerland 5-1 and Czechia 5-0 in preliminary-round games, Japan 17-0 in the quarterfinals and Czechia 4-2 in the semifinals.

Read More: U18 gold medal win over USA a ‘dream come true’ for Team Canada defender

WORLD CUP PARA ALPINE PODIUMS FOR PAIR OF LOCAL SKIERS

Ottawa’s Sierra Smith guided skier Kalle Ericsson to the top of the podium for the first time this season on Sunday at the FIS Para Alpine World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The duo had the fastest first and second runs in the men’s vision-impaired giant slalom for a convincing victory.

“Really exciting to have six podiums in our last six races,” Smith highlighted via Alpine Canada. “We are continuing to build momentum for World Championships in a few weeks.”

Gatineau’s Alexis Guimond returned from a recent bad fall, which left him with a concussion and a spinal contusion, and rebounded with three medals in his last three World Cup para alpine ski races – two silvers at St. Moritz in men’s standing giant slalom and a bronze in the downhill at Santa Caterina.

OTTAWA’S KAI EDMONDS CO-FLAG BEARER AT FISU GAMES

The FISU Winter World University Games officially opened Monday in Turin, Italy, and Ottawa’s Kai Edmonds was front and centre.

Edmonds, one of three goaltenders on Canada’s men’s hockey team, and University of Alberta curler Catherine Clifford shared the flag bearer duties during the opening ceremony in Inalpi Arena.

“This really is such an honour. One, to represent my country and wear the maple leaf, but (two) to be selected to carry the flag and represent the entire delegation is an even greater privilege,” Edmonds said in a U Sports press release before the ceremony.

Edmonds was a key member of Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2023 FISU Games in Lake Placid, New York. He posted a 6-0 record, a .937 save percentage and two shutouts.

In the opening game of the 2025 FISU Games on Saturday, Edmonds stopped all nine shots as Canada blanked South Korea 11-0.

But Canada was upset by Czechia 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday, despite outshooting its opponent 48-14. Czechia won the shootout 3-0. The University of Ottawa’s Francesco Lapenna was the backup goaltender for Canada.

The University of Ottawa’s Noah Royz has qualified for the snowboard cross semifinals and is in contention for a medal. After posting the seventh-fastest qualifying time on Saturday, Royz of Lac Ste-Marie, PQ, survived five elimination heats by placing in the top two each time. He recorded three second-place finishes and two firsts.

CARLETON, OTTAWA MOVE UP AND DOWN TOP-10 RANKINGS

The Carleton University women’s basketball team scored a pair of convincing OUA wins, which allowed the Ravens to jump three places in the U Sports national rankings to No. 1.

The Ravens, 13-0, defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 86-50 and the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold 63-56 to strengthen their East-Division lead over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at 11-2 and the Queen’s University Gaels at 10-2.

Jacqueline Urban was named Carleton female athlete of the week, after a stellar weekend on the court. Urban had 26 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Varsity Blues and 23 points, 11 rebounds and two steals against the Bold.

Teresa Donato continued her strong play coming off the bench against Toronto with 18 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Despite turning back the Lakehead University Thunderwolves 71-40, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees lost their No. 1 ranking and fell to No. 4 behind Carleton, Laval University (6-1) and Saint Mary’s (11-0). The last rankings were released prior to Carleton’s 81-59 win over Ottawa on Dec. 4.

Alissa Provo and Natsuki Szczokin counted 12 points each for the Gee-Gees.

On the OUA men’s side, the Gee-Gees climbed two positions in the national ranking to No. 5, while the Ravens split their two games in Toronto and dropped three places to No. 9.

Ottawa received 15 points and four rebounds from Anki Choudhary and 13-point games from Khalifa Koulamallah and Owen Kenney to spark an 81-59 decision over Lakehead.

After Carleton turned back Toronto 86-59, the Ravens were stymied 85-72 by the Bold. Aubrey Dorey-Havens led the Ravens in victory with 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Daniel Smith and Abraham Osman had matching 12-point efforts against the No. 10 Bold, which won every quarter against the Ravens.

RAVENS EDGE GEE-GEES IN HOCKEY FOR THIRD TIME THIS SEASON

For the third time in as many OUA men’s hockey meetings, the Carleton University Ravens defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-4 in overtime. The win also was Carleton’s eighth in a row.

The Gee-Gees are in fifth place in the East, while Carleton is sixth.

Felix Bedard, the Ravens’ male athlete of the week, counted three goals, including the one to force overtime, while Nick McCarry (overtime winner) and Will Collins scored a goal apiece. Brendon Clavelle scored two goals for the Gee-Gees and Zach Giroux and Andrew Belchamber each had one.

In OUA women’s hockey, second-place Ottawa fell 3-2 to Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks, but won 4-2 over the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold on goals by Gillian Warren, Angelique Proulx, Florence Lessard and Alyssa Biesenthal. Naomi Morin and Biesenthal were the goal scorers against the Golden Hawks.

Carleton lost both of its games, 4-2 to the Bold and 2-1 in a shootout to the Golden Hawks, to remain in seventh place. Anya Misner and Victoria Kay scored against the Bold and Avery Krawchuk counted one against the Golden Hawks.

ROUGH SECOND HALVES CRUSH CANADA TOPFLIGHT ACADEMY

Canada Topflight Academy played tough, competitive basketball for the first half of each of its three Elite Prep League games, but the second halves were totally different stories.

The only Canadian entry in one of the top high school prep leagues in the United States trailed host Perkiomen School 28-22 at the half, but lost 84-60. CTA was tight with Massanutten Military Academy at 39-37, but saw the game slip away and end 86-72 in defeat. After trailing Hargrave Military only 35-34 at the half, CTA fell 81-59 at the final whistle.

The top CTA scorers were Dylan Kayijuka with 21 points against Perkiomen, Waris Njoya with 19 points against Massanutten, and Njoya with 18 points against Hargrave.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· Valérie Grenier of Ste. Isidore, ON., has had an up and down World Cup season with a fourth- and ninth-place results in women’s giant slalom, a recent 43rd in downhill, two DNFs and one DNQ.

· When the World Cup of long-track speed skating stops in Calgary Jan. 24-26, there will be four Ottawa-Gatineau skaters racing the clock: Ivanie Blondin, sister and brother Isabelle and Jake Weidemann and Cédrick Brunet.

· Freshman Clara Hegan of Ottawa placed second for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats in the women’s individual cross-country ski race during the Bates Carnival, while co-captain Jasmine Lyons of Ottawa was ninth. In the sprint race, junior Alexandra Luxmoore of Ottawa was seventh with Hegan in eighth and Lyons in 11th.