Lynne Noble and her team were perfect at the 2018 BC Curling Championships over the weekend.
With her crew consisting of third Penny Shantz, second Colleen Robson and lead Karen Lepine – representing the Cloverdale, Comox, Langley, Parksville and Qualicum curling clubs – Noble cruised through the competition unbeaten to repeat as senior women’s provincial champions at the Enderby Curling Club.
This was Noble’s third provincial crown, following titles won in 2011 and 2017.
The Noble rink, coached by seven-time B.C. men’s champion Jim Cotter, ended the round-robin with a perfect 7-0 record before defeating Sheila Cowan of Royal City/Cloverdale 8-5 in the championship final.
The gold-medal victory was boosted by a five-ender in the fourth after Noble blanked the third end in a 2-1 match. Cowan’s rink included Donna Langlands, Crystal Murray and Victoria Murphy.
The winning rink featured a strong lineup, with Lepine now becoming a three-time BC senior’s champion. Shantz helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, when curling made its Winter Games debut as a demonstration sport. This was Robson’s second straight seniors’ victory and Lepine is the 2015 national masters champion.
In senior men’s play, Craig Lepine’s crew — which represents Cloverdale, Langley, Penticton and Vancouver and features Stan Walker, Craig McLeod and Mike Pelech — repeated its 2017 victory by defeating Wes Craig at his home club in Duncan by a 7-5 score.
Craig and his team of Gerald Poelman, Tony Anslow and Victor Gamble had gone through the round-robin with an 8-1 record, including a 5-4 victory over Lepine, who avenged the loss in the championship game thanks to a four-ender in the seventh.
Lepine was 7-2 during the round-robin portion of the event, his other loss coming in a 4-3 setback to Mark Longworth of Vernon.
Both the Noble and Lepine rinks will now travel to the 2018 Everest Canadian Senior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships in Stratford, Ont., slated for Mar. 24-29 for the 50+ age group.
Noble and her team will be hoping to improve on their bronze medal performance last year at the national competition.
For the full team rosters, linescores and schedules for the Enderby event, visit http://bot.curlbc.ca//web/CompRR?compid=2706.
— NEWS Staff/Curl BC