Bonot gets first taste at Northwesterns

Playing against the likes of former world champ Lorraine Lang, and other top rinks like Kathie Jackson and Peggy Taylor, was nothing new for Jackie Bonot’s Stratton rink.
But going up against them in the Northwestern women’s playdowns was for the young foursome whose skip, at just 21 years old, finally became old enough to compete.
Yet Bonot’s rink looked anything but out of place at Geraldton last week, where they finished second in Pool #1 with a 3-1 record before being ousted from further contention with a 10-4 loss to Taylor in the playoffs.
The game was close until Taylor, who had finished second in Pool #2, scored three in the sixth and eight ends, then added a steal of two more in the ninth to ice the victory.
“We had a very good weekend,” said Bonot, whose rink included third Andrea Lee, second Kristy Cheetham, and lead Jacquee Savage.
“It would have been nice to win but we curled well and the games were close,” echoed Lee. “The ice was really tough but it was really a close game.”
Bonot said they were familiar with the other rinks they had to face in Geraldton, many of whom they had played against previously at bonspiels.
“We played many of these teams before and it was exactly what we expected,” Bonot said. “We can definitely play with them, even against Lorraine [Lang], who is a former world champion.”
Bonot opened play with two wins, dumping Karen Saarimaki (Geraldton) 13-4 and then nipping Tiffani Stubbings 8-7 (Port Arthur). But Lang got the better of them in the third draw, winning 9-3 in just seven ends.
Bonot then rebounded to win her final round-robin game 8-6 over Carol Sanna (Campbell) to finish at 3-1 and in second place.
That pitted the Stratton foursome against Taylor, with the winner moving on for a shot at the second and final berth to the provincials while the loser went home.
“That’s why those [round-robin] games are so important,” Bonot reasoned, noting a first-place finish in a pool allowed a rink to lose once in the playoffs and still advance (as Kathie Jackson of Fort Frances did).