They were the toast of the NorWOSSA curling circuit last year, but a different and more difficult task awaits them.
Skips Amy Nielson and Adam Bolen will lead their respective teams down a mostly unfamiliar road this weekend in Keewatin and Geraldton, respectively, as part of the Northwestern Ontario junior women’s and men’s curling championships.
The winners advance to the provincial championships Jan. 15- 18 in Sudbury.
Nielson and her team of third Kate Bondett, second Krystal Windigo, and lead Jenna Enge all will be first-time participants at the junior playdowns.
Other than Windigo, who replaces second Katie Bolen for this event, the rest of the team still has the pleasant memory of last year’s near-podium finish at the NWOSSAA playdowns as part of the Muskie girls’ team to strengthen them for this curling season.
“I think we can go far, but for being there for the first year, it’s more about the experience,” admitted Enge. “There are much more experienced teams than us going.
“Next year, we should do much better.”
Enge noted their practice sessions have focused on teamwork and communication aspects, and she sees the squad bettering themselves in both areas.
“We were lacking in our calling out of whether a rock was on line or had enough weight,” she remarked. “But we’re trying out things like experimenting with stopwatches to check our rock times, and Amy’s trying to call out the shots better to the sweepers, too.”
The Bolen rink heading to Geraldton, meanwhile, will be the same Muskie quartet that surprised many by capturing the NWOSSAA crown en route to an all-Ontario berth last season.
That means the return of third Brendon Loney, who currently is attending the University of Manitoba, to hook back up with Bolen, second Jason Pattison, and lead David Kaun (Joey Wensley was an alternate lead on the Muskies last year).
“It’s going to be some disadvantage for us this weekend since we haven’t had a chance to practice all together yet,” noted Bolen. “But Brendon and I have been curling together for five years, and the success we had together last year really helped us for this year.”^Bolen said while the team remains strong in the take-out department, the finesse shots that gave them so much grief last season continue to be an area of concern.
“We can all do take-outs, but we all have problems with draws,” he admitted. “We play better as a hitting team.
“When we played the NorWOSSA qualifiers, we were playing draws all the time,” he noted. “Then we got to the NorWOSSA finals and turned into a hitting team, and that made the difference.”
Bolen will have at least partial knowledge of his opponents at the junior level.
“I faced three of the skips in NorWOSSA or NWOSSAA play, and I’ve played all the rest of the skips at some point,” said Bolen, who will be back at the juniors after having played third for Stratton’s Trevor Bonot two years ago at the event.
The girls’ competition, which starts tomorrow, will feature seven rinks, also including Shana Ketona (Port Arthur Curling Club), Nicole Westlund (Port Arthur Curling Club), Ashley Miharija (Fort William Curling Club), Courtney Lennon (Longlac Curling Club), and Cassie Heppner (Hornepayne Curling Club).
In Geraldton, Bolen will be in an eight-team showdown starting today that also includes Stratton rep Trevor Bonot, who currently lives in Thunder Bay, and his all- Thunder Bay team of third Jarred Meadows, second Daryl Gorman, and lead Tyler Stewart.
Rounding out the field are David Carr (Port Arthur), Taylor Kallos (Fort William), Mathew Dupuis (Nipigon Curl-A-Drome), Eric Theriault (Terrace Bay Curling Club), and Mike Frostiak (Red Lake Curling Club).
A representative from the host Geraldton Curling Club who was undetermined at press time.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
