WESTLOCK — Members of the Westlock Curling Club, friends and family came out to cheer on Westlock’s Team Clark during a semi-final showdown with Team Hartwell from Edmonton Dec. 10 during the women’s provincial curling qualifier Dec. 7-10 at the Westlock Curling Rink.
Ultimately, Team Clark lost the very close match 8-7 Sunday morning, to Team Hartwell, who ended up taking the last qualifying spot in the final, beating Team Marks 8-7 Sunday afternoon as well.
“They have nothing to hang their heads about,” said Westlock Curling Club past president and one of the organizers for the qualifier, Paula Clark. “The games were great. It’s tough competition and they battled hard and everyone’s still proud of them.”
A total of 13 teams competed at the four-day event and eight teams will move on to the provincial championships from Jan. 23-28 in St. Paul, with four teams chosen based on points earned and accumulated at bonspiels during the season and four chosen at the two qualifiers — the one in Westlock in December and another one that will be held in Airdrie in early January 2024.
Team Clark consisted of two sisters from Westlock, skip Emily Graham and lead Rachel Clark, and two of their friends, second Leslie Hammond from Stony Plain and third Taryn Hamilton from Okotoks.
After losing their opening game 9-1, Team Clark had to win every game to move on.
“They had their back up against the wall. They lost the first game so they had to win four in a row,” said Paula, who is also the mother of Emily Graham and Rachel Clark. “They played hard, they battled hard …. the other skip made a great shot.”
Paula said overall the weekend went “really well” with some exciting, close games and great attendance.
“We had lots of support from the community, (especially) when our team was curling. It was great to see.”
Although Team Clark lost in this qualifier, they are not eliminated completely from competing at provincials, she noted, adding there is still a chance for them to qualify for provincials at the “last chance qualifier” in Airdrie in January and everyone is remaining optimistic.
"It was pretty close," said Graham, noting that Team Clark will compete in the provincial qualifier in January. "(We're) determined. I do think that we are one of the teams to beat and I think it's good that we'll get another chance."
She said they will take it one game, one end and one shot at a time and work hard to compete for provincials in January.
"As much as we wanted to win in front of a home crowd, we really respect and appreciate everybody that took the time to come and cheer us on. It really was something to remember, their support did not go unoticed."
Clark is staying positive as well.
“They’re not out yet. Overall they played really well," added Clark. "They played with heart and soul and it just came down to the last rock.”
