They don’t represent the same team, but they proudly represent B.C. – and specifically Langley – in the Canadian seniors curling championships getting underway this weekend in Ontario.
Craig and Karen Lepine are a Langley couple, whose love for (and skill at) curling has allowed them to travel extensively for contests.
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Well such is the case this weekend, as the pair head off to compete in the 2018 Everest Canadian Senior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships in Stratford, Ont.
There are 14 men’s and 14 women’s teams vying for the national title, and skip Craig Lepine is representing Team B.C. in the men’s competition, while his wife Karen plays lead on the women’s Team B.C. Langley Curling Centre is also respresented by another member of Craig’s team, Mike Pelech – who will play lead for Team B.C.
The teams have been seeded into two pools per gender, based on last year’s results, and will first play a round robin within their pool through Monday.
The top four in each pool then advance to the championship pool for games against teams from the other pool, while the remaining teams go to the seeding pool.
Following the conclusion of the championship pool on Wednesday, the semifinals will be held Thursday, March 29 at 10 a.m., pairing 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3.
The winners then advance to their respective gold medal finals at 2 p.m. Thursday, while the losers meet in bronze medal games at the same time.
In women’s, Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson, a former Scotties and Trials silver medallist who won last year’s seniors title at Fredericton, has returned to defend her title.
On the men’s side, Wade White of Alberta will try to successfully defend the title he won last year in Fredericton.
All playoff games will be held in the RBC Arena in Stratford. And for the first time, selected games from the 2018 Everest Canadian seniors will be streamed live by CBC Sports. People can watch at cbcsports.ca or via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android.
The Canadian Senior Men’s Championship began in 1965 at Port Arthur, Ont. Since then, Manitoba has won a leading 12 titles, Ontario is next with 11 while Alberta has nine.
The Canadian Senior Women’s Championship began in 1973 at Ottawa. Ontario has won a leading 10 crowns, followed by British Columbia with eight and Alberta and Saskatchewan with seven each. However, Ontario’s last victory was back in 2006 by four-time champion Anne Dunn.
The championships were conducted separately until being combined in 1985 at Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Ontario has hosted four Canadian Seniors since then, the latest in 2010 at Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation, the province staged four men’s and two women’s championship events.
This year’s winners will represent Canada in the 2019 World Seniors, at a site and date to be announced by the World Curling Federation.
