CARSTAIRS - The curling team skipped by Carstairs’ Myla Plett has won the Canadian U18 championships for the second straight year, defeating New Brunswick 10-1 in the finals on Saturday.
Running Feb. 5-11, the Canadian championships were held in Timmins, Ontario, with the Plett team going 6-0 in round robin before beating BC2 3-2 in the quarter finals, QC2 6-5 in the semifinals and then NB1 in the finals.
“We knew we had a good enough team to win, but there were 21 teams there that all had a chance to win and they’re the top teams in their province or territory, so we knew we had to play our best, which we did,” Plett told the Albertan.
“Even then we still had some really close games. I would say I was surprised that we went undefeated for sure.”
Asked what she saw as key to her team’s success, she said, “Just the consistency throughout our lineup. We definitely missed some shots out there, but I’m guessing not one of us missed two shots in a row the entire week.
“To have all four of us shooting at a high percentage usually gives us a huge advantage. It’s a big accomplishment for all of us.”
Now in it second session together, the team is skip Plett, 17, third Alyssa Nedohin, 17, from Sherwood Park, second Chloe Fediuk, 16, from Edmonton, and new lead Allie Iskiw, 16, from Ellerslie.
Blair Lenton, from Airdrie, is the team’s coach, while David Nedohin, from Sherwood Park, is assistant coach.
The Plett team won the Canadian U18 championships in Oakville, Ontario in May 2022.
Plett commended the volunteers and organizers of last week’s national championships in Timmins.
“The venue was amazing in the arena being able to have so many people cheering and ringing cowbells and blowing horns was such a fun atmosphere to play in,” she said. “They also had so many super friendly volunteers making sure everything went smoothly. It was so much fun.”
This season the Plett team won the U18 provincial championships in Cochrane in January. The team has also qualified for U20 Nationals in Rouny-Noranda, Quebec March 26 to April 2.
The team has also qualified for the Canada Winter Games, which take place in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Feb. 19-25. The team leaves for the Winter Games on Friday.
She said she is confident the team will do well at the games.
Plett is a Grade 12 student at Olds Koinonia Christian School.
