Last year, the curling season came to a painful end for Sarah Wark鈥檚 Victoria Curling Centre rink.
They were a 10th-end draw shot away from claiming the 2015 provincial women鈥檚 title, eventually losing a heart-breaking extra-end battle to Patti Knezevic of Prince George.
This week, Wark and her foursome of third Simone Brosseau, second Michelle Allen, lead Rachelle Kallechy and coach Bill Tschirhart plan on writing a different ending. They are one of two Vancouver Island rinks among the eight teams competing at the 2016 Scotties sa国际传媒 Women鈥檚 Curling Championship beginning tonight at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam.
鈥淎bsolutely, that鈥檚 the goal for sure. It鈥檚 going to be tough, it鈥檚 a strong field,鈥� said Wark. 鈥淲e had a bit of a rough start to the season 鈥� maybe not rough, we didn鈥檛 feel like we weren鈥檛 playing well, but we weren鈥檛 getting the wins on the board.
鈥淲e鈥檝e turned our season around at the right time and hopefully we can peak at the right time. We鈥檙e feeling really good going in,鈥� she added. 鈥淭he girls are all throwing it really nice right now. It seems to be coming together at the right time, so hopefully we can ride that into the week.鈥�
The rink did make a mid-season change in that Kallechy holds the broom and manages the house on Wark鈥檚 final stones.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing together long enough now that any change is seamless, so it鈥檚 good. It might have taken a weekend to adjust, but it鈥檚 all good,鈥� said Kallechy, who is looking forward to the week.
鈥淭he goal is to play on Sunday. You know, it鈥檚 a great field. The sa国际传媒 Women鈥檚 is always a tight race, but we鈥檙e confident that if we put our best out there, we鈥檒l be playing on Sunday.鈥�
Wark opens play tonight against Amy Gibson of Royal City Curling Club in the 7 p.m. draw, before facing Knezevic and veteran six-time sa国际传媒 champion Kelly Scott on Day 2.
鈥淚f we can come out 2-1 after that second day I think we鈥檇 be looking good,鈥� added Kallechy.
Wark plays Nanaimo鈥檚 Kesa Van Osch 鈥� the other Island rink 鈥� in the final round-robin draw Friday afternoon before teams move into the Page playoff system on the weekend. Sportsnet will broadcast the semifinal and final of the event.
Van Osch was the 2014 sa国际传媒 Women鈥檚 champion and has sister Kalia Van Osch at third, second Shawna Jensen, lead Carley St. Blaze, alternate Marika Van Osch and coach Jim Newlands on her 2016 team.
The winning rink this week will represent sa国际传媒 at the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Grande Prairie, Alta., from Feb. 18-28, but will have to pre-qualify as Knezevic鈥檚 team was relegated after a 1-10 record last year.
EXTRA ENDS: Penny Shantz and her Nanaimo crew of third Tracey Newlands, second Deb Pulak and lead Kelly Bleau and the VCC鈥檚 Wes Craig, with Scott MacDonald at third, second Tony Anslow and lead Victor Gamble, earned seniors berths to provincials on the weekend. The sa国际传媒 championships are slated for Feb. 15-21 in Richmond.
