With its bronze medal win the girls’ curling team at EDSS picked up the school’s first-ever Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) medal in the sport at the province wide competition in North Bay and Sturgeon Falls last week.
The medal was the culmination of the team’s success this year, following its WCSSAA and CWOSSA wins earlier in the season.
The 11-3 win over Medway High School from London followed a tough semi-final game that the Lancers lost 6-4 to St. Patrick High School from Thunder Bay.
That they bounced back to take the bronze was indicative of their entire season, said coach Kyle Selmes.
“All season, at any point they faced adversity, they always sort of stepped up in how they can regroup themselves and then play,” Selmes said.
“We had a game [in WCSSAA] play,… they were down by four, and we tied. In the last couple ends of that game, they just took a moment to recompose and then tie the game that by all accounts was already done. The resiliency has always been there all year. So it wasn’t surprising to see them come out of that semi final game and then put on the display they did in the bronze-medal game,” he added.
The team of Beth Alpaugh, Hannah Wilk, Valorie Martin, Julia Vanrooy and Brooklyn Alpaugh finished with a record of 16-2-1 their only other loss coming in OFSAA round-robin play.
Martin recognized the significance of their accomplishments.
“As skip, it’s pretty amazing because it’s just the first medal that the school’s actually won in OFSAA and gotten all the way through. So I’m actually pretty proud of my team and myself for getting this far,” she said.
The medal is amazing “from such a tiny little school,” said Alpaugh.
“We’re not always that big. And just to like to put ourselves on the map and actually recognize that such a high level.”
“It’s not even just like winning the bronze it’s getting there with the team growing as a team improving our skills and just having fun,” added Wilk
Coach Melody Bridgen-Martin said the team was composed both on and off the ice.
“They were constantly lifting each other up and keeping each other in good spirits. They were the epitome of sportsmamship: always having fun with smiles, encouraging their teammates and even the competitors like they engaged with our competitors. They made it fun with tons of positives,” she said.
As no one from the team is graduating this year, they expect to come back even stronger for next curling season, applying what they learned this year.
“I think our goal is to get through round robin and championships and CWOSSA and then get to OFSAA again and then go harder,” Valorie Martin said.
