FRCC's Team Mike McEwen recovered from a devastating semi-final loss Saturday night to capture the bronze medal on Sunday, at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier in St John's, NL. McEwen was left with an open hit for the 7-5 extra end win over Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs. Leading 5-4 in the 10th end, it appeared Jacobs was headed for a certain two and the victory until McEwen executed a very difficult double with his last rock, leaving Jacobs with a draw to tie the game and force the extra end.
The bronze medal game at the Brier and the Scottie's is always a difficult game for the competitors. To reach the bronze medal game, you have to suffer the frustration of losing either the 3rd - 4th place game or the semi-final. To the credit of the teams, they always manage to pick themselves up after the tough defeats to play well and give fans one more opportunity to watch the very best in the game.
Congratulations to Mike McEwen, B.J. Neufeld, Matt Wozniak, and Denni Neufeld, for an outstanding week of curling, a 9-2 round-robin record, and this year's Brier bronze medal.
The Fort Rouge Curling Club's Team Tracy Andries captured the 2016 Travelers Curling Club Championship on Saturday, in Kelowna, BC.
Teammates for 20 years, Andries, along with Crystal Kennedy, Diane Christensen, and April Klassen, found themselves down one coming home in the final against Alberta's Morgan Muise. The end was set up early and Andries continued to apply the pressure throughout with Manitoba rocks building up around the rings. Alberta's final rock draw attempt rubbed a tight guard and rolled to a position that was mostly exposed, but was shot rock. With no hesitation, Andries placed the broom on the centre line and headed to the other end where she would calmly deliver a flawless hit and stick for a score of four and the victory.
The close knit group were joined in Kelowna this week by nearly 50 friends and family. Congratulations to Team Andries on behalf of everyone associated with the Fort Rouge Curling Club.
The FRCC was also represented in the Men's category by Team Andrew Wickman. Wickman, joined by Jeff Tarko, Mark Blanchard, and Cam Barth, followed up a solid 5-1 round robin record with a disappointing quarter-final loss to BC.
Manitoba's Skip, Andrew Wickman, was presented with the Sportmanship Award - Men's Skip, as voted on by the curlers.
By all accounts, the FRCC was very well represented at the annual national event. Next year's Travelers Curling Club Championship will take place in Kingston, Ontario at the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club, Nov. 20-25
