Staff
Northern Ontario had two chances to get one win, but ended up on the outside looking in.
Skip Peggy Taylor of Kenora, with Fort Frances resident Lisa Penner at third, missed qualifying for the semifinals of the 2015 Everest Canadian senior women’s curling championship in Edmonton, finishing in a tie for fifth in the championship pool with Manitoba at 3-4.
Northern Ontario needed to only beat either previously winless Laura Phillips (Newfoundland and Labrador) or B.C.’s Sandra Jenkins on Friday to secure a spot in the top four and reach the semifinals.
But Phillips, who represented “The Rock” at the Scotties national women’s championship a total of five times in the 1980s and 90s, turned back the clock and played like she was in her prime to pound Taylor 8-1 in six ends on Friday morning.
That left Northern Ontario with a win-or-go-home scenario against Jenkins on Friday night, with both teams sitting at 3-3 and tied for the final playoff berth.
Jenkins, who won a bronze medal as part of Shannon Kleibrink’s Canadian rink at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, leapt to a 4-0 lead after three ends and coasted from there to a 9-3 triumph to eliminate Taylor.
Alberta’s Terri Loblaw, whom Northern Ontario handed its first loss of the tournament last week, captured the title with a 7-5 win over two-time women’s world champion Colleen Jones of Nova Scotia on Saturday.
Loblaw will represent Canada at the world senior curling championships in Sochi, Russia from April 18-25.
