The strong year for EDSS athletics continued last week when the girls’ curling team took home its first-ever WCSSAA championship with a dominating 10-2 win over Eastwood Collegiate in seven ends.
That the Lions accepted their defeat with one end left to play is a testament to how good the Lancers have been this year.
“We’ve been the top team all season with a record of seven wins, zero loses and a tie,” said skip Valorie Martin.
Coach Kyle Selmes said the team gelled together from the very beginning.
“They played well as a team all through the season. They’re a young team, they’re all back next year, which is incredible. This is the first time for all of them to be on the team. And it’s shown throughout the season,” he said.
“I’ve just been having a lot of fun with everyone. I think they’re all really great people. And it’s awesome to kind of have a good connection in a team and make the team stronger,” said team member Hannah Wilk.
In their seven wins this season, the Lancers defeated their opponents by a combined score of 58-11. The WCSSAA final followed a semi-final win over Grand River Collegiate by a 12-1 score.
“We had some really great shots. Our first game, we just had the advantage of draw weight and really good shots,” Martin said.
“Our second game I guess was a little bit tougher, but we got the hang of it. The ice was a little weird, but we did get the hang of it,” she added.
“I think today was a good demonstration of how well this team plays together and really understands each other’s strengths. And just the experience they brought individually showed up in this team format, and really allowed them to kind of coast to the end,” added Selmes.
Being a WCSSAA champion in curling is “defintely different,” Martin added.
“But it’s honestly a really great opportunity.”
Bringing home the first WCSSAA curling championship for curling is incredible, Selmes noted.
“It’s sort of unfathomable in some ways, we have the curling club here and a lot of them have come out of the program here. The school’s been rooting for them all season, so we have a lot of support. And I think everyone would be really proud of them,” he said.
The team next competes at the regionals (CWOSAA), though this week’s matches were postponed due to weather.
