It was a bit of a revolving door for the Shelley Sanders rink on the weekend, but somehow the team prevailed and came away the winner of the 2017 ladies bonspiel, held at the Merritt Curling Centre.
The Sanders foursome edged the Jenny McDonald rink in an exciting ‘A’ final on Sunday afternoon that went to an extra end.
The Shelley Sanders rink, winners of the ‘A’ event at the ladies’ bonspiel on the weekend. (Left to right) Joan Robinson, Shelley Sanders, Lorna Latremouille, Sue Kerr. Missing: Sharlene Lively, Lis Ladyman. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Gellrich).
On a good day (or night), the Sanders’ rink is comprised of skip Shelley Sanders, Joan Robinson, Sue Kerr, Sharon Lively and Dr. Liz Ladyman. The members rotate in and out of the lineup throughout the season, depending on health and life’s other commitments.
When Lively fell ill (Is that an oxymoron?) Friday night after just one game, and Ladyman had to leave for a conference at the coast on Saturday, suddenly the Sanders’ quartet plus one was down to a threesome.
To the rescue came fellow Merritt curler Lorna Latremouille, who played as a fourth on the Sanders’ team for the duration of the weekend and skipped her own rink in the bonspiel.
“Everybody played really well,” said Robinson. “We just kept switching around positions depending on who was playing at the time. Shelley even threw third at one point.”
Robinson described the final as a “neck-and-neck battle” all the way.
“We’d score one, they’d score one. Fortunately, we had the hammer (last rock) in the extra end.”
En route to the ‘A’ final, the Sanders rink also defeated the Diane Twan foursome and the Janice Ellingsen quartet.
The Sue Newton rink, winners of the ‘B’ event. (Left to right) Sara Martin, Clara Irwin, Susan Newton, Josée Warren, Janine Vernon. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Gellrich).
Winner of the ‘B’ final was the Susan Newton rink, while the ‘C’ final went to the Monica Tenisch rink.
The Monika Tenisch rink, winners of the ‘C’ event. (Left to right) Monica Tenisch, Jane Wowchuk, Carol DeSimone, Wendy Stone. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Gellrich).
A total of 10 rinks took part in this year’s bonspiel, including one from Princeton. The event is sponsored by Black’s Pharmacy and Doctors’ Eyecare.
A very successful ‘Boutique Vendors’ event was held in conjunction with this year’s ladies’ bonspiel, with 11 local home-based businesses in attendance, displaying their products and services.
Skip Shelley Sanders stretches out in her delivery during preliminary play. Her foursome would go on to win the ‘A’ final on Sunday over the Jenny McDonald foursome. (Ian Webster/Herald).
Sweepers Susan Kell (left) and Vicky Groves work the brooms for the Janice Ellingsen rink. (Ian Webster/Herald).
