LUMSDEN-BETHUNE - The East Region 4-H Curling Playoffs were held in Lumsden and Bethune on jan. 24 and 25.
To qualify for this weekend, teams needed to finish in first place at district bonspiels, held earlier this month across the province. The senior and junior teams from the Alameda Beef Club won at the District 41 bonspiel held in Oxbow on Jan. 3.
Regionals were a double-knockout format, with eight senior teams and six junior teams competing. Among the other clubs at regionals were Benson Beef (junior), Wawota/Whitewood Beef (junior and senior), Springside Beef (junior), Foam Lake Beef (junior),Serath Multiple (junior and senior), Cymri Beef (senior), Pangman/Ogema Beef (senior), Goodeve Multiple (senior), Hillside/McQuibe Multiple (senior) and Sheho Beef (senior).
Alameda’s senior team went undefeated, winning all four of their games and qualifying for provincials as A-side winners. On the opening night, with Highway 11 temporarily closed due to the weather, many of the players were unable to get to the bonspiel. Alameda’s seniors ended up playing their first two games in Lumsden with just three players.
In the junior division, most opening-night night games were postponed due to the highway closure. This made Jan. 25 in Bethune a busy day. Alameda’s juniors had a less direct path to qualifying than the seniors did. They won their first two games but lost to Wawota/Whitewood in an A-side final that went to extra ends and came down to the last rock. They won three more games after that loss to win the B event.
The senior team consisted of skip Dylan Frey of Oxbow, third Joran Frey (Oxbow), second Addison Hammermeister (Alameda), lead Katelyn Rutten (Carlyle) and spare Rachel Tober (Oxbow). The junior team members were skip Bryn Chapman (Carlyle), third Fallyn Shier (Oxbow), second Dane Tober (Oxbow), lead Marlee Gervais (Alida) and spare Bryler Franken (Glen Ewen), who is a member of the Carnduff Beef Club.
The top three teams from each age group from the regional competitions qualify for provincials in Yorkton Feb. 14-16.
