The Rocky View Schools’ curling divisionals were held at the Airdrie Curling Club Feb. 8 and 9, but home ice advantage didn’t help either Bert Church High School or George McDougall rinks.
George McDougall entered the event as defending winners of both the Grade 9 and mixed divisions, but found themselves shut out of the medals.
Cochrane High beat W.G. Murdoch to claim the 2012 mixed title, while Bow Valley High School defeated Cochrane High in the Grade 9 division.
“In the Grade 9 gold medal game, Cochrane High was one up and Bow Valley had two at center behind cover for the win. The Cochrane skip drew in for second shot and the tie, but last rock was to Bow Valley,” said Corina Bauer, Rocky View Schools’ curling coordinator. “The Bow Valley skip threw a takeout in-off for two points and the win.”
In the girls’ division, Cochrane took home the win over Chesteremere, while 2011 winners Bow Valley took home a bronze.
George McDougall faced off against a Chesteremere High rink, but narrowly lost the game on a great shot from the Chesteremere skip.
“George McDougall was lying two at center behind cover for the tie,” Bauer said “Chestermere had last rock. The Chestermere skip made and amazing angle runback double (from the corner of the eight-foot) to remove both rocks from play for the win.”
Bauer said that numbers for curling have been on the rise in recent years, and this year’s divisionals were a good representation of that.
“Getting schools to hold their own eliminations before divisionals would ensure the district ends up sending the best qualified teams to compete for the right to go to zones,” said Bauer.
“Divisionals went very smoothly. We had some terrific teams this year - the boys’ teams in particular were very competitive and very strong. Our novice Grade 9’s had a ton of fun, too, and really learned a lot about the bonspiel experience.
The biggest request from coaches was to move back to a double knockout format to improve the level of play and give teams a better opportunity for play.”
