Kathie Jackson’s Fort Frances rink also was ousted from the money on the women’s side of the Sun Life/Husky Oil Grand Prix of Curling last weekend, losing three of their four games.
Opening with a pair of losses to Winnipeg rinks (9-6 to Janet Harvey and then 7-5 to Lori Boudreau), Jackson quickly found herself in an early must-win situation in the triple-knockout format.
But Jackson, who competed in the Scott Tournament of Hearts last season, staved off elimination with a convincing 11-3 drubbing in five ends over Elaine Uhryn (Thunder Bay), one of the top curlers on the junior circuit for the past few years.
Jackson scored five in the first end and never looked back, increasing her lead to 7-3 before scoring four more in the fifth that forced Uhryn to shake hands.
Then Jackson, whose rink included Kim Beaudry (third), Kelly Tolen (second), and new lead Stacy Beachan, ran into an old nemesis–Kathy Chittley-Young from Burlington. She came out on the losing end of a 9-6 score to be eliminated from the 16-rink showdown.
Jackson admitted she was disappointed with their performance but stressed the playdowns gave her foursome some much-needed experience in a highly-competitive situation.
“This [bonspiel] was on the World Curling Tour and I’ve been a part of it for years but the quality of teams wasn’t as high as other years,” she noted. “We just didn’t do it.
“But we went there for the competition and the games experience,” she stressed.
Winnipeg’s Karen Porritt captured the women’s top prize of $9,000 with a 9-7 victory Monday afternoon over Chantal Osborne of Montreal.
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