HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Huntley Curling’s Katrina Frlan wins local junior superspiel over international entries

By Martin Cleary

A diverse contingent of Ottawa athletes was spread across Canada, France, Morocco, China and Ireland, winning medals, flirting with podium finishes and adding to their sporting experiences.

But if there was one event that stood out a tad more than the others, it was one that happened right here in Ottawa at the Granite Curling Club of West Ottawa.

The 32nd BrokerLink-Ottawa Valley Curling Association junior superspiel unfolded over three days for 18 men’s and 14 women’s rinks competing for $25,000 in prize money.

One of the premier competitions on the Ontario junior curling schedule, the two draws attracted rinks from Switzerland, the United States and five provinces.

And the winner of the women’s division was Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan and her rink of Erika Wainwright, Samantha Wall and Lauren Norman.

After being outscored 13-10 in its opening match in the A bracket, Team Frlan dropped to the B bracket, where the local rink won three straight matches – 8-2 over Ottawa’s Norah Smith, 6-5 over Megan Stopera of the U.S.A., and 6-5 over Jana Hoffman of Switzerland.

A 3-1 preliminary record earned Team Frlan the No. 3 seed for the playoffs, which saw it post three more tight victories to secure the gold medal.

Encouraged by the determined play of an ailing Wainwright, who played third, Frlan edged defending champion Charlotte Wilson of Ottawa 6-5 in the quarterfinals, Rebecca Regan of Nova Scotia 7-5 in the semifinals and Zoe Schwaller of Switzerland 6-4 in the final.

Schwaller is the younger sister of Xenia Schwaller, who skipped undefeated Switzerland to the gold medal at the 2024 world junior curling championships and has competed in two Grand Slam events this season, reaching the quarterfinals of The Masters and semifinals at the Tour Challenge.

Frlan’s rink was able to achieve a 6-1 overall record, the title and $4,500 in prize money, despite fewer practices than previous seasons. Frlan and Wainwright attend the University of Guelph and have made the Gryphons women’s curling team, while Wall is a student at the University of Ottawa and Norman is a Grade 12 high school student.

The 2024-25 season was a remarkable one for the Frlan rink, reaching the Ontario women’s U18 and U20 finals to qualify for a pair of national championships.

Team Frlan won the provincial U18 title for the second time in three years and captured the bronze medal at the Canadian championship. At the U20 championships, Frlan was runner-up at the Ontarios and seventh with a 5-3 record at Canadians.

MACKENZIE GRANT SCORES TEAM BRONZE AT INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS MEET

When Mackenzie Grant headed to the Tournoi International artistic gymnastics competition in Combs-la-Ville, France for the second year in a row, she had one goal – improve her performances.

“This year, I’ll do a lot better and push myself harder,” the Edge Gymnastics athlete predicted.

Mission accomplished.

Grant, a Grade 8 student at All Saints High School, posted three significant results in the Espoir class, which included a bronze medal in the three-athlete team event with Eden Belay and Zoe Ewens.

She was eighth in the all-around competition in a field of 46 gymnasts as well as the top Canadian with 46.800 points. France’s Louane Plisson dominated the competition with 51.700 points and added three gold and one silver medals in the individual finals as well as a team gold.

During the all-around portion, Grant scored 12.7 points for vault, 11.55 points on balance beam, 11.00 points on uneven bars and 11.5 points on floor. She qualified for the vault final and finished fourth with a two-vault average of 12.416 points.

At the Tournoi International last year, Grant was 35th out of 49 competitors in the all-around and 11th in the two-person team with Carlaya Millin.

LAILA KHAN REACHES QUARTERFINALS AT WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS

A bronze medal at the world taekwondo championships in Wuxi, China, was within reach for Ottawa’s Laila Khan, but she just couldn’t reach it.

After receiving a first-round bye and winning her first two bantamweight (-53 kilograms) matches, the Phoenix TKD athlete faced Dunya Abutaleb of Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, but lost 9-7, 9-4.

A victory would have moved her in the semifinals, where she would have been guaranteed a bronze medal. Abutaleb was the eventual silver medallist, losing to Turkey’s Merve Dincel 6-2,2-0.

Khan, who is coached by George Koh, defeated Shrutika Takale of India 18-14, 8-6 in the round of 32 and Jessica Canabal of the Philippines 10-8, 6-3 in the round of 16.

Ottawa’s Leonarda Andric lost to South Korea’s Kwak Min-ju 10-2, 9-5 in the round of 16 of the women’s 67-kilogram class. Andric defeated Serbia’s Iva Petrovic 2-15, 6-0, 9-2 in the round of 32.

BRAZIL DEFEATS CANADA IN FIFA U17 WOMEN’S SOCCER QUARTERS

Undefeated Canada was eliminated from the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, when it lost to Brazil on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.

After playing a scoreless game, Brazil outscored Canada 5-4 in the penalty kick showdown. Naomi Lofthouse of Ottawa South United and the Ottawa Rapid converted her penalty for Canada. During the game, Brazil had six shots on goal to Canada’s three.

Canada won Group D by defeating Nigeria 4-1, Samoa 6-0 and France 2-1. In the round of 16, defender Mya Angus of Ottawa scored Canada’s third goal in a 6-0 decision over Zambia.

The Canadian roster also included Ottawa’s Molly Hale and Felicia Hanisch.

SILVER MEDAL FOR OTTAWA MEN’S MASTERS BASKETBALL TEAM

SFSC Ottawa won the silver medal in the men’s 50 division at the Galway Masters basketball tournament in Ireland.

After defeating Strathclyde of Scotland 39-8 and a team from Dublin 44-13, SFSC Ottawa reached the final, where it lost to another Dublin squad 29-27.

The teams played six-minute, running-time quarters for the first half and stop time in the second half for scheduling reasons.

The members of the SFSC Ottawa team were Chris Biegler, Tom Chadwick, Scot Symes, Al Overwijk, Warren Newberry, Craig Law, Mike Laughton, Murray Smith, Doug Laughton and Henk Dykhuizen.

JACOB GAUTHIER REPEATS AS OFSAA CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING CHAMPION

Medals were hard to come by at the OFSAA cross-country running championships, but Jacob Gauthier of Consortium Centre Jules-Léger and his guide Logan Fennimore saved the day for the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association.

For the second straight year, Gauthier was the fastest visually-impaired runner in the four-kilometre race at the provincial high school championships at Heart Lake Conservation Area in Brampton.

Gauthier and Fennimore, a Grade 11 student at Glebe Collegiate Institute, covered the tight, muddy course in 22 minutes, 41.69 seconds to place first in the field of three visually-impaired runners.

Although the courses were different, Gauthier ran the 4,000-metre test two minutes and 48 seconds faster than in 2024.

“He did really well,” said Fennimore, praising Gauthier’s overall performance. “There were peaks and valleys on the course, it was muddy and there was a large portion that was very narrow.”

Gauthier and Fennimore ran side-by-side holding a one-foot long tether, which made it difficult to pass other runners in the field of 82 athletes, who were in the intellectual and ambulatory classes.

“I was very proud of the way he ran. I consider it a huge accomplishment. He had a faster time than last year,” Fennimore added.

Gauthier also finished 36th overall in the para race. Grayson Leblanc of Immaculata was 10th overall in 18:02.86 and Noah Lamoureux of Lisgar took 40th in 24:13.71. Leblanc and Lamoureux competed in the intellectual division.

Glebe and Nepean finished fourth and fifth in the girls’ junior team standings with 300 points and 306 points respectively. Leading the way for each team was Reve McInnes of Glebe in 19:52.80 for 19th place over five kilometres and Charlie Fee of Nepean in 19:56.37 for 20th.

Individually, Reem Alabed of Ashbury was 14th in 19:39.76 and Alexandra Harris of John McCrae took 28th in 20:11.82.

The NCSSAA placed two runners in the top-10 of the boys’ senior six-kilometre race. Charlie Mortimer of Hillcrest was fifth in 19:12.29, while Owen Siderius of Colonel By finished ninth in 19:24.03.

Graeme Siderius of Colonel By threatened to win a medal, but placed fourth in the boys’ novice four-kilometre final in 14:01.49. He was 4.97 seconds out of third and 20.3 seconds behind the winner. By was eighth in the team standings. A.Y. Jackson’s Jaiden Taft was 10th in 14:23.13.

Roan Gerth finished 13th in the girls’ novice 4 km in 16:11.57 and helped Glebe to a fourth-place team result. Zoe Allina of Colonel By was 24th in 16:35.20.

Kyra Lauter of Franco-Ouest was 15th in the girls’ senior 6 km race in 22:58.26 and Laila Lebel of Colonel By claimed 19th in 23:13.57.

Onyx Sineus of Canterbury was 36th in the boys’ junior 5,000 metres in 17:46.91.

In the girls’ aggregate team standings, Glebe placed fourth.

LOCAL VIKES PLAYERS WIN U SPORTS WOMEN’S RUGBY CROWN, GEE-GEES 6TH

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees finished sixth at the U Sports women’s rugby championship in Vancouver, which matched its worst-ever result from its first nationals 25 years ago.

The University of Victoria Vikes, the eventual silver medallist, crushed the Gee-Gees 41-8 in the opening quarter-final round. In the consolation round, Ottawa ran past St. Francis Xavier University X-Women 55-3 before losing the fifth-place game 40-14 to the Université Laval Rouge et Or.

The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds edged Victoria 15-13 in the final, and Queen’s University Gaels eased past the University of Guelph Gryphons 28-26.

The Gee-Gees, who have won one gold, two silver and four U Sports women’s rugby championship medals, were awarded the R.W. Pugh Fair Play honour.

The Victoria roster included ShonDreya Smardon, a first-year player from Ottawa, and former Carleton University Ravens star Vanessa Chiappetta. Smardon scored a late try against the Gee-Gees. Chiappetta notched a try against Guelph and was the Vikes’ player of the game.

Tian Wiens scored a try and Claire Bennett had a penalty goal in the Gee-Gees’ loss to the Vikes. The Gee-Gees scored nine tries against St. Francis as Sophie McDonald and Sydney Noseworthy led the way with two apiece. Single tries came from Ngozi Mosindi, Alysia Comtois, Quynh-Ni Au, Grace Dingwall and Camryn Holland.

Laval led 19-0 at halftime before the Gee-Gees hit the scoreboard – Comtois and Dingwall, one try each, and Bennett and Noseworthy, one convert apiece.

Queen’s had five players from Ottawa on its roster – scrum half Ella Beltran, full back Rachel Cullum, centre Mathea MacRae, wing Mika Matsukubo and back row Jiggy Schonfeld.

McDonald, Mosindi and Schonfeld were named first-team All-Canadians, while Carleton’s Sierra Hasse and Dingwall were selected second-team All-Canadians.

Dingwall also was presented the U Sports rookie-of-the-year award, after leading the RSEQ with 10 tries and tying for fifth place in the national standings. Her 50 points put her fifth and ninth in the respective RSEQ and U Sports point standings. Dingwall was the first Gee-Gees player to win the national rookie-of-the-year award.

Fatima Ramadan of Carleton won the RSEQ student-athlete community service award and was a finalist for the U Sports national award.

YORK LIONS CAPTURE U SPORTS WOMEN’S FIELD HOCKEY GOLD

First-year goalkeeper Alyssa Kay of Ottawa is a national champion, after York University Lions defeated Victoria University Vikes 1-0 in the U Sports women’s field hockey championship gold-medal game in Charlottetown.

Kay was the backup to goalie Ella Ciesielski, who earned her fourth consecutive shutout in as many games at the championship. Juliet Redelaar counted the only goal of the championship game.

York played Victoria and host University of Prince Edward Island to 0-0 ties in its first two games before defeating Dalhousie University Tigers 5-0 to advance to the final.

P.E.I. blanked Dalhousie 2-0 in the bronze-medal game. There were three players from Ottawa in the lineup for Dalhousie, which was appearing in its first national championship in 10 years – forwards Georgia MacDonald and Zoe Stephenson and defender Sarah Viau.

CARLETON’S ROSIE O’BRIEN EARNS 2 BRONZE MEDALS AT ROWING NATIONALS

The Carleton University Ravens rowing program had lots to celebrate at the Canadian University Rowing Association national championships in the Olympic Basin in Montreal.

Rosie O’Brien won the Ravens’ only two medals, which were both bronze. She placed third in the lightweight single and teamed with Hayley Murray of Hamilton to finish third in the women’s double to close the two-day championships.

Ed Fournier, the assistant men’s rowing coach at Carleton, was named the coaching builder of the year. He was the Ravens’ head coach from 2011-23. He has coached university rowing for 35 years.

The University of Ottawa’s Rebecca Cocchetto also reached two A finals, placing fifth in the women’s lightweight single and fifth in the lightweight double with Hannah Kavanagh.

Carleton’s Magnus Abdelnour, David Badekin, Cameron Burston, James Sheridan and coxswain Seth Basler were sixth in the men’s lightweight coxed four.

In the team standings, Ottawa was eighth and Carleton tied for 13th place for men, and ninth for Ottawa and 13th for Carleton for women.

Aidan Hembruff of Ottawa, Adam Griesbach of Osgoode and Sebastien Friedrich Yap of Merrickville helped Western University Mustangs earn the bronze medal in the men’s heavyweight eight.

Alexander Ladage was part of the Queen’s men’s lightweight coxed four, which won the bronze medal.

RAVENS RECEIVE 7 OUA SOCCER ALL-STAR SELECTIONS

Carleton University Ravens placed four players on the two OUA men’s soccer all-star teams and three on the women’s honour list.

Goalkeeper Roberto Paguaga-Frankovich, defender Nicholas Gagon and midfielder Caden Tomy were given first-team all-star honours, while defender Yusuf Osman was a second-team selection.

The OUA women’s soccer first all-star team included defender Mia Hollingsworth, midfielder Mikayla Moser and striker Lauren Illman, all from Carleton; and midfielder Nibo Dlamini and striker Gracie Somers, both from the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Second-team selections were goalkeeper Chloe Lachance-Soulard of Carleton and defender Maya Smith of Ottawa.

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues blanked the University of Guelph Gryphons 1-0 in the OUA women’s soccer final.

Ula Curley and Amelia Racicot, both of Ottawa, play for the Varsity Blues. Talia Hamilton of Ottawa and Kaiya Woodcock of Stittsville were on the Guelph roster.

uOTTAWA WINS ALL 4 OUA BASKETBALL GAMES

The Carleton University Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees swept two games each in OUA women’s basketball, while the Gee-Gees did the same on the men’s schedule.

The Ravens turned back Nipissing University Lakers 78-59 and Laurentian University Voyageurs 61-45. Kyana-Jade Poulin was the top scorer for Carleton in both games with 17 points and 20 points respectively. Jacqueline Urban posted 16 points and 15 rebounds against Laurentian.

Allie McCarthy combined for a two-game total of 52 points, 19 rebounds, eight steals and seven assists as the Gee-Gees defeated Laurentian 69-51 and Nipissing 83-59. Bailey Russell counted 25 points and six rebounds in the win over Laurentian.

Owen Kenney led the way as the Gee-Gees men’s squad beat Laurentian 83-57 and Nipissing 106-63. Kenney had 16 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes against Laurentian and 21 points and eight rebounds against Nipissing. Alec Phaneuf was Ottawa’s top scorer against Nipissing with 30 points.

Carleton defeated Nipissing 77-57, but the men’s basketball team was upset by Laurentian 61-51. Aubrey Dorey-Havens had 18 points for Carleton in the win, and Emanuel Milon contributed 19 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

GEE-GEES, LAKERS SPLIT MEN’S OUA HOCKEY DOUBLEHEADER

Defending national champion University of Ottawa Gee-Gees split an OUA men’s hockey doubleheader with the Nipissing University Lakers, winning the second game 5-2, after losing the opener 5-3. Adam Belchamber scored one goal in each game for the Gee-Gees.

After losing 5-1 to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes, the Carleton Ravens blanked the Concordia University Stingers 2-0. Nick McCarry and Alex Johnston scored for the Ravens to support Dylan Meilun’s nine-save shutout.

On the OUA women’s hockey schedule, Ottawa shut out York University Lions 4-0, after losing 3-2 in overtime to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks.

Gillian Warren notched one goal and one assist for the Gee-Gees against the Golden Hawks, and chipped in two goals against York. Rebecca Morrissette added two goals in the win over the Lions and Maelle Laplante added four assists.

CUMBERLAND PANTHERS WIN 3 OF 5 ‘A’ CUP CROWNS AT NCAFA FINALS

The Cumberland Panthers will represent the National Capital Amateur Football Association in all three Ontario Fall Football Cup games on Nov. 15 in Durham as they swept the three youngest divisions on NCAFA ‘A’ Cup championship Sunday.

Cumberland beat North Gloucester 36-22 in the U10 Tyke final to earn the first of the club’s three back-to-back victories at Nepean Sportsplex.

The Panthers finished their unbeaten U12 Mosquito season with a 50-19 win over North Gloucester. The dominant Cumberland squad had no victories by less than 27 points this season.

The Cornwall Wildcats offered by far the stiffest challenge to the U14 Peewee Panthers this season, but still fell 32-16 as Cumberland finished with a perfect record and eight shutouts in 11 games.

The Wildcats did come away with a NCAFA title at the U16 Bantam level, which does not include a provincial event, thanks to a narrow 13-10 victory over the Myers Riders.

Defence most certainly won championships for the Bel-Air Norsemen as they downed the Kanata Knights 20-0 in the U19 Varsity final. Bel-Air posted seven shutouts in 10 games including both of its playoff contests and never gave up more than eight points in any match.

NCAFA staged a total of 13 championship games for different ages and tiers during its championship week.

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