All three RDC Curling teams qualify for ACAC Championships in February

Brent Forster - RDC with information from Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

Edmonton, AB - On the final day at the Winter Regional, all three Red Deer College Curling teams earned important victories, sealing spots in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Curling Championships in February. 

In the morning draw, the Red Deer College Kings dropped an 8-3 decision to the Lakeland College Rustlers and then rebounded in the afternoon with an 8-3 win over the Olds College Broncos.

The Queens had a tremendous beginning on Sunday, winning 10-4 over the Rustlers. Then, the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings shaded the Queens 4-3.

The RDC Mixed Curling team started the morning victorious, defeating the Portage College Voyageurs 4-1. 

NAIT's men's squad and MacEwan's women's rink held onto first-place positions by completing the ACAC Winter Regional with perfect 6-0 records at the Avonair Curling Club on Sunday.

Trygge Jensen's NAIT Ooks foursome – which also included third Jonah Tobinski, second Bret Winfield, lead John Ritchie and alternate JJ Crowder – entered the event atop the standings after also going 6-0 in the ACAC Fall Regional. They finished a perfect 12-0.

"I know everybody's trying to beat us and knock us down," said coach Jules Owchar. "Olds came close. We had to draw the four foot to win."

He credited his veteran rink to their success as they rolled to wins over Olds (6-5), Concordia (11-2), Lakeland (9-3), MacEwan (7-2), Red Deer College (9-6) and UAlberta-Augustana (8-1).

"First of all, they were complete from last year, so that makes a pretty big difference," said Owchar.

"They've got it. They know what it takes to win and they work hard. I don't even have to be there and I know they're going to do everything they're supposed to. So that makes a big difference."

Concordia (9-3), RDC (7-5) and Lakeland (5-7) claimed the other men's berths for the championships. UAA, MacEwan and Olds missed the playoffs at 3-9.

MacEwan's women's rink, comprised of skip Ashton Simard, third Erin Wells, second Andie Kurjata and alternating leads Taitan Hagglund and Rebecca Bartz, entered the weekend in first in the standings at 5-1. They finished 11-1 after rattling off six wins at their home facility.

"They never gave up," said coach Brian Lupul. "They very consistently played well."

"In this game, you can miss shots. Everybody misses shots. It never bothered them."

"It seemed like because we were number one from the last round, teams got up a little more for us, which is OK. We had some excellent competition, there's some good teams here."

"The women, I'm quite proud of them."

MacEwan beat Concordia (6-4), Lakeland (9-2), NAIT (5-3), Olds (6-4), RDC (6-4) and UAA (5-4) to wrap up first place.

"Anybody can win," said Lupul of the ACAC Championships. "This is our home rink, so we're a little more familiar with it. It will be a bigger test going to Olds. I am quite confident that the women (will have success). Over the last three years they've improved vastly. They're all quality. We don't have a weak player."

NAIT (8-4), RDC (7-5) and UAlberta-Augustana – which beat fellow 5-7 team Olds College in a Sunday afternoon tiebreaker – will join the Griffins at the ACAC Championships. Concordia (4-8) and Lakeland (2-10) were also eliminated.

UAlberta-Augustana topped the mixed competition, finishing 8-2 overall after going 4-1 at the Avonair.

The team of skip Allyson Hamilton, third Dustin Rupertus, second Nadia vanBruinessen and lead Jackson Sweder rolled to victories over Lakeland (5-3), Olds (6-4), Portage (8-2) and RDC (5-3) and lost to NAIT (5-3) on the weekend.

"We've had a different skip each bonspiel, but both were very aggressive," said coach Andrew McIntosh. "This weekend, Allyson Hamilton was our skip. She played a very clean and aggressive game. She did it very well and the team supported her with that, so that was key."

UAA will be joined at the championships by fellow qualifiers Lakeland (7-3), NAIT (7-3) and RDC (5-5). Olds (2-8) and Portage (1-9) failed to qualify. With the slate being clean once they arrive at the ACAC Championships, McIntosh said the way they work as a team will be key.

"The big thing is the chemistry that they have," he explained. "They're really good at bringing each other up when they have a bad end, a bad shot."

"That was one of the things, certainly coming into this event that they really worked on – trying to help each other."

The results from the Fall and Winter Regional were combined and the top four teams in each division qualified for the ACAC Championships from February 22-24. Both the Kings and Queens finished third in their respective divisions and the mixed team captured the final playoff spot. 

Men's Fall and Winter Regional Combined Standings

NAIT Ooks (12-0)

Concordia University Thunder (9-3)

RDC Kings (7-5)

Lakeland College Rustlers (5-7)

Women's Fall and Winter Regional Combined Standings

MacEwan University Griffins (11-1)

NAIT Ooks (8-4)

RDC Queens (7-5)

U of A Augustana Vikings (5-7) qualified after defeating the Olds College Broncos (5-7) in a tiebreaker

Mixed Team Fall and Winter Regional Combined Standings

U of A Augustana Vikings (8-2)

Lakeland College Rustlers (7-3)

NAIT Ooks (7-3)

RDC (5-5)