Joey Payeur
The homecoming didn’t quite live up to expectations for Kathie Jackson.
The Fort Frances resident saw her Northern Ontario rink’s hopes of a national title go up in flames yesterday as they lost both games at The Dominion Club Curling Championships in Thunder Bay to finish in sixth place in the Grey Pool with a 1-5 record.
Jackson, who was born and raised in Thunder Bay, along her team of third Teresa McFayden, second Lisa Penner, and lead Kris Sinclair, needed to win twice yesterday—and have some other teams ahead of them lose at least once—to have a shot at a tie-breaker.
But a 5-2 loss to Nicole Baldwin (Yukon) in the afternoon draw dashed those plans.
Jackson’s crew led 2-0 after four ends, scoring one in the first end and then stealing a single in the second.
But Baldwin revved up her game in the fifth, striking for three to take the lead.
She then stole singles in the sixth and seventh before running Jackson out of rocks in the eighth to clinch second place at 4-2 and nail down a spot in today’s playoffs.
With only pride left to play for in the evening draw, Northern Ontario fell 7-4 to Amy Gibson (B.C.)
Jackson sandwiched a single in the first and a deuce in the third around B.C.’s three-ender in the second to make it 3-3 after three.
Gibson then nabbed a single in the fourth before stealing a crucial single in the fifth to lead 5-3.
Northern Ontario got one back in the sixth, but were burned for a pair by B.C. in the seventh.
They again ran short of rocks in the eighth in a comeback attempt.
Manitoba’s Stacey Fordyce finished in first in the Grey Pool at 6-0. They were followed by the Yukon and a trio of teams at 3-3 in the Northwest Territories, Alberta, and B.C.
New Brunswick had an identical 1-5 mark to Northern Ontario, but Jackson’s rink got the nod for sixth in the pool by virtue of its head-to-head win over New Brunswick in the preliminary round.
Over in the Blue Pool, Heather Burnett (Saskatchewan) led her team to first place with a spotless 6-0 record.
Ontario’s Michelle Fletcher joined her in the playoffs with a 5-1 mark to finish second.
They were followed by Nova Scotia (4-2), Quebec (3-3), P.E.I. (2-4), Newfoundland and Labrador (1-5), and Nunavut (0-6).
The men’s and women’s finals will be played tomorrow.
