At the start of the curling season Chaelynn Kitz had her sights set on accomplishing a childhood dream of competing at the Olympics. She had her final opportunity to qualify for the Canadian mixed doubles trials. Kitz and partner Brayden Stewart were in Brantford, Ontario at the Cooper Equipment Mixed Doubles Cash Spiel.
The weekend began with a come from behind opening draw victory over Lyndsey Wilson and Scott Dow of Palmerston, Ontario. Kitz and Stewart were down one with the hammer coming home. Kitz/Stewart took full advantage of the last rock and scored a couple to make the final eight-seven.
Their second matchup was against Megan Smith and Matthew Hall. A steal of two in the sixth end put Kitz/Stewart up by three, but team Smith/Hall could not recover. Team Kitz/Stewart win 6-4 and improve to 2-0.
Up next was a matchup with Chantelle Broderson/Kyler Kleibrink. The game started out good for Kitz/Stewart. The duo scored a deuce in the first end to lead 2-0 after one but then the wheels fell off. Broderson/Kleibrink scored in the next four ends and cruised to a six three victory. Kitz/Stewart fell to two wins and one loss.
After dropping their first matchup the team rebounded with two convincing wins. They won 9-2 over Smith/Hall and then in the playoff round they knocked off Kimberley and Wayne Tuck 9-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The quarter finals was an all Saskatchewan affair. Kitz/Stewart met up with Jolene Campbell and Brady Scharback. Kitz/Stewart fell behind 4-0 early but they managed to score four in the fourth, one in five and one in six to go up 6-4. In the seventh however Campbell/Scharback put three on the board to go back ahead and they stole one more in eight to make the final 8-6. Kitz and Stewart were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
“It was very disappointing,” Stewart says. “On my last one in 8 I made a great shot that looked to have pretty much sealed our spot into the semifinals. Jolene then came down and made an even better hit and roll frozen against four of our shot rocks. Chaelynn had a run back to draw and get it out but curled more than expected and we lost. It sucks to have come so close and played so well along the way and just come up that little bit short.”
Kitz and Stewart failed to qualify for the Canadian mixed doubles Olympic curling trials. Kitz will now turn her attention to the women’s provincial championship which takes place from January fifth-ninth. Last year she represented Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as a member of team Sherry Anderson. They are looking to return to the event and build off last year’s success.
It wasn’t all bad news for Saskatchewan based teams. Chelsea Carey who curls out of Regina qualified for the Mixed Doubles curling trials along with partner Colin Hodgson. They made it to the championship game but lost to Laurie St-Georges and Felix Asselin. “Obviously Felix and I were looking forward to playing in that spiel to qualify! We played 3 mixed doubles events until the last chance to have enough points to play in it! We knew we would have a chance to qualify but we never thought about winning the event! We went to Brantford with no pressure and it came out nice! We played amazing the whole weekend and we had awesome communication on the ice and a lot of fun obviously! Some games were tougher mentally but it was good preparation for the trials! When we won the semi final and knew that we were qualified for the trials I was literally jumping on the ice and, yes I admit that I cried a little bit after. It was really emotional for me because it’s a dream come true. I never thought that at 24 years old I would make it to an olympic trials with my boyfriend! Because Felix is working in Val D’or, we were not supposed to see each other for Christmas but since we will be at the Trials from December 27th to January 2nd, it’s gonna be nice to spend some time together and enjoy the experience! It’s an amazing feeling and I still don’t realize it yet.”
The trials will take place in Portage La Prairie Manitoba from December 28 to January 2nd.