YORKTON - When the final rocks were delivered Sunday Saskatoon’s Skylar Ackerman rink and the Regina foursome skipped by Kelly Knapp had topped the Sask Curling Tour's Men's and Women's Players Championship event hosted by the Yorkton Curling Club.
“It was a good day,” said Ackerman after her team topped Jessie Michell 9-1 in the women’s final, thanks to a four spot in the first end and another four in the third.
Ackerman said the whole weekend was good in the sense it allowed the team to shake off some holiday season rust ahead of the upcoming women’s provincial event to be held in Tisdale later this month.
“Things came together and we were in our groove,” offered Ackerman, whose team included Ashley Thevenot, Taylor Stremick and Kaylin Skinner..
The Saskatoon-based skip said when they are in ‘the groove’ ... “We’re having a lot of fun and playing loose. We’re remembering our love of the game.”
Generally Ackerman said the Yorkton event was a good warm-up for provincial, adding it was an opportunity “To get back on the competitive grind,” adding the team will now turn to the practice ice ahead of the Tisdale event.
“There are a couple of things we need to fine tune,” she said.
It was a closer game in the men’s final as Knapp, including Brennen Jones, Mike Armstrong and Trent Knapp, edged the Steve Laycock rink 7-5, thanks largely to a big three in the third end.
Knapp said the game ended up being tighter than might have been expected after going up 5-1 after three ends.
Knapp said a tough shot in the fifth end where the Laycock rink scored a pair made the game a close one.
“Most of our games with Steve (Laycock) are that kind of game,” he said, adding they come down to a point here or there in the end.
An event like the one in Yorkton is important because it gives teams headed to the Tankard in Saskatoon a chance to play some higher pressure games, and to simply throw more rocks ahead of the big event – the Knapp rink are defending provincial champions.
Like Ackerman’s rink Knapp said it will now be a practice regime ahead of the Tankard, something which mimics what they did last year.
“There’s lots of things to improve on,” he said.
