Lynne Noble took the long way to the B.C. Senior Women’s curling championship Sunday in Salmon Arm. The road will now get even longer as Noble’s Qualicum & District Curling Club squad earned a berth in the 2017 Canadian Senior Women’s Curling Championships March 18-25 in Fredericton, NB.
Noble topped local favourite and previously unbeaten Sandra Jenkins 7-5 in the championship final to wrap up the five-day, eight-team championship at Salmon Arm Curling Centre.
The Noble rink played 10 games in the tourney, most of any participant.
It was the second senior women’s title for Noble, the 2011 B.C. senior women’s champion, who curled with third Penny Shantz of Parksville — herself a two-time past provincial champ in 2012 and 2014— and second Colleen Robson of Courtenay and lead Kathy Branch of Comox.
Noble qualified third into the weekend playoff following seven draws of round-robin play. Her 5-2 record included a 5-2 loss to Jenkins in the teams’ first meeting, which was sealed by Jenkins’s three-rock steal in the eighth and final end.
To win the title, Noble and her teammates first had to get past fourth-seeded Lisa Deputan of Chilliwack Curling club (9-6), then down second-seeded Sheila Cowan of Langley (9-4) to earn the rematch against Salmon Arm’s Jenkins rink.
Noble turned the tables in the see-saw final with a three-rock sixth end that gave her the lead for good at 6-5. Jenkins settled for a blank in the seventh end to retain the hammer for the eighth, but Noble ran the host rink out of rocks and closed it out with a one-point steal for the final margin.
Jenkins had cruised unbeaten through the round-robin to earn the top seed with a 7-0 record, then dispatched Cowan 8-5 in Saturday’s semifinals.
Jenkins curled with third Kate Horne, second Wendy Cseke, lead Carol Murray and fifth Gerri Kiy.
— NEWS Staff