Championships Curling

Curling

Day 5: Alberta captures men’s and women’s championships

28 Mar 2018, 07:02 PM 28 March 2018, 07:02 PM

U SPORTS Staff

(Don Voaklander / University of Alberta)

For the second time in school history, the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas captured both U SPORTS men and women’s curling titles, winning their respective championship finals on Wednesday at the Leduc Recreation Centre.

Both the Bears and Pandas also earned the right to represent Team Canada at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The national title for the Bears is their third in program history, and first since 2015. The Pandas’ title is also their third overall, with all three coming in the last four years.

GOLD x2! Congratulations to the @BearsandPandas Men’s and Women’s curling teams on winning ? at the 2018 U SPORTS Curling Championships! pic.twitter.com/ypbpftwTvR
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 28, 2018

“It’s surreal. The feeling of what just happened hasn’t even set in.” said Bears skip Karsten Sturmay, whose sister Selena plays second on the Pandas. “I couldn’t be prouder of my team and my sister’s team. All of us, we’ve done a great job here.”

Sturmay’s Bears defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 6-4, while the Pandas beat the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack 6-3. The UNB Varsity Reds captured the men’s bronze medal, while the Brock Badgers claimed the women’s.

“It’s been fantastic to be the host school, literally playing 30 feet from where I threw my first curling rocks,” continued Sturmay, who was part of back-to-back silver medal-winning teams. “That’s so special. We’ve had so many friends and family to come out and watch us and the level of support Leduc has shown, it has been unbelievable.”

What’s better than winning ?? How about winning ? with your sibling!

Karsten and Selena Sturmay both take home gold at the 2018 U SPORTS Curling Championships! ?? pic.twitter.com/GnCPhh8PJx
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 28, 2018

The Golden Bears jumped out to an early 4-2 lead over the Wesmen, before both teams exchanged singles in the later stages of the game. Alberta scored a single in the 10^th to seal the national championship.

Meanwhile, the Pandas fell behind 2-0 early to TRU, before scoring in three consecutive ends to take a 4-2 lead after six. After allowing one in the seventh, Alberta added another two in the ninth, before running the WolfPack out of rocks in the 10th.

It’s surreal. The feeling of what just happened hasn’t even set in. I couldn’t be prouder of my team and my sister’s team. All of us, we’ve done a great job here.

"It was so cool to have the boys playing two sheets over from us and we were kind of feeding off each other’s energy from the crow,.” said an excited Kristen Streifel, skip of the Pandas. “It was a tough week. We really had to grind it out, but we continued to improve every game. I’m just so proud of our programs. ”

This is the second consecutive time the Pandas have represented Canada at the Winter Universiade, after Kelsey Rocque’s 2016 U SPORTS winning squad captured gold in Almaty, Kazakhstan last winter.

"It’s such an amazing feeling for it to come true. To be able to wear that Maple Leaf and represent Canada on a world level is so special,” said Selena Sturmay, who captures a national title in her rookie season. “Karsten and I had a chance to curl on a national level together and we’ve both been Team Alberta at the junior level, but to now wear the Maple Leaf together is even better."