By rdnewsNOW staff

CCAA Championships in Manitoba

RDC Queens hit the ice today for curling nationals

Mar 11, 2020 | 9:21 AM

The RDC Queens face a familiar opponent today (Wednesday) as they begin play at the CCAA/Curling Canada College Curling Championships in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

The Queens – Jaycee Bourke (lead), Erica Watts (second), Emily Plett (third) Hollie Vincent (skip), and lead/spare Carmyn Penner – take on the Concordia Thunder (4 p.m. MT), a team they faced four times in ACAC play, finishing with a 3-1 record.

After the Queens dropped a 5-3 decision to the Thunder at the ACAC Fall Regional, they got on a roll and won three consecutive games in head-to-head competition. At the Winter Regional, RDC downed Concordia University 8-3. Then the Red Deer College Queens dropped the Concordia University Thunder 6-3 and 8-1 at the ACAC Championships presented by Holiday Inn at their home rink.

Coach Brad Hamilton says the ice at Red Deer’s Pidherney Curling Centre during the recent ACAC Championships helped simulate the curling conditions they’ll see in Manitoba.

“It is on arena ice again. The nice thing is the ice makers at Pidherney gave us as close to arena ice as you can get in a curling club for provincials,” said Hamilton. “The ice was great, so that should help.”

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After the Queens’ ACAC silver medal performance on March 1, their attention quickly turned to nationals.

“We only have a week to prepare, so just trying to make sure the women stay sharp,” explained Hamilton. “They had a league game Tuesday, practice Thursday, a practice game Saturday and one last practice on Monday.”

Also competing from the ACAC are the NAIT Ooks, conference bronze medalists, and the gold medal champion University of Alberta Augustana Vikings.

The Douglas Royals, from the PACWEST, will try to win back-to-back CCAA titles. Three women’s teams from the OCAA will also vie for a medal. The Fanshawe Falcons, Humber Hawks and Sault Cougars will challenge for a podium placement.

“None of the [RDC] women have been to nationals before, so it should be a great experience to play on arena ice and to play other teams,” stated Hamilton. “The goal is to make the top four and playoffs, and then battle hard in the medal round and have fun while we are doing it. (It) should be a great experience.”

The championships run from March 11-15.

(With file from Brent Forster, RDC Athletics)