Enge enjoyed first taste at Scotties

Lucas Punkari

Even though Team Ontario finished up the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a 4-7 record, the opportunity to compete at the national women’s curling championship was one Devlin native and former Muskie Jenna Enge will never forget.
Enge, who now lives in Thunder Bay and plays second for Tracy Horgan’s rink out of the Idylwylde Curling Club in Sudbury, said thought she and the rink performed well for their first time there at the Scotties, which ran last week in Red Deer, Alta.
“We gained a lot of experience and we learned a lot during the course of the week,” Enge noted.
“Hopefully, we can make it back there again next year in Kingston [Ont.] and pull out a few more wins.”
One of the biggest things the Horgan rink, which includes third Jennifer Seabrook and lead Amanda Gates, learned during the Scotties was how to deal with the hustle and bustle that takes place throughout the week.
“There is so much time where you are spent doing things when you are not curling,” Enge explained.
“We did a lot of extra things, such as helping out with the call-in day for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, which was great to be a part of, along with doing autograph signings and things like that.
“There’s a lot of stuff that you need to handle along with the curling, and as it turns out the curling was the easy part,” she added.
On the ice, Enge was one of the sharpest performers during the round-robin portion, shooting 83 percent for the week to finish third among the seconds.
“I’m just thrilled I’m able to be named among the top three seconds that were there,” she enthused.
“It was pretty amazing, and I was really happy with how I played in my final game as I out-curled the first-team all-star at second [Manitoba’s Jill Officer],” she added.
Heading into the Scotties, Enge was going into her first-ever experience curling on
arena ice. But as it turned out, it wasn’t a big issue.
“Tracy was able to read the ice quite well, considering this was only her third time playing on arena ice,” Enge noted.
“We had to make a little adjustment with our rotation on the rocks and in our deliveries,” she explained. “But by the end of the week, we had pretty much got everything down pat.”
Another highlight for the Horgan rink came during the annual awards ceremony on Saturday, when Gates received the Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship award.
“I have never felt more proud of our team as when Amanda got that award,” Enge smiled.
“It was amazing to see her get that award, and she was so happy to receive it.
“And we as a team are so proud of her.”
Barring receiving any invitations to attend year-end bonspiels, the season for the Horgan rink appears to have ended.
But Enge will be busy over the next few weeks as she’s preparing for the mixed provincial playdowns in Geraldton next month, where she will be throwing third stones for Kory Carr’s rink.