Duncan curler Carley Hardie and the rest of her rink have qualified for the 2022 Canadian U18 Curling Championships after winning the B.C. U18 tournament.
Hardie plays lead for the rink skipped by Gracelyn Richards of Comox, with Keelie Duncan, also from Comox, at third, and North Vancouver’s Grace McCusker at second. The team is coached by Adam Duncan of Comox.
The B.C. tournament was held on Dec. 28-Jan. 2 at the Delta Thistle Curling Club.
Team Richards went 3-2 to place second in the round robin, then beat Team Wheatcroft (Golden Ears) 5-4 in the semifinals on a amazing final shot run back by their skip. They faced Team Bowles (Vancouver) in the finals, winning 6-3.
With two berths for B.C. this year, Team Richards knew they would be going to nationals by virtue of making the finals, but it is even sweeter to be going in as provincial champs.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Hardie said. “We were not only going to nationals but representing B.C. as No. 1, wearing the jackets and everything.”
Originally scheduled to take place in Timmins, Ont. in mid-February, the U18 nationals have been moved to Oakville, Ont. for May 2-7.
Team Richards will also be competing at the B.C. U21 championships on Feb. 23-27 in Comox. The rink is part of the CurlBC high performance program. They began their season in August 2021 and then competed in four Junior Tour events, winning two and placing second and third in the others. They also won the A event In the Comox Ladies Bonspiel.