The Niagara College women's curling team is set to tackle the nation's best this week as the Knights head to Camrose, Alberta for the 2017 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national curling championship being hosted by the University of Alberta-Augustana.
The Knights earned their trip to nationals by capturing a silver medal at the 2017 OCAA curling championship in Sault St. Marie last month. The Knights lost the OCAA gold medal match to the Humber Hawks 6-4.
The Knights team consists of 2017 OCAA second team all-star Emma Caldwell (skip, St. Catharines), two-sport standout and 2014 CCAA National Champion golfer Lorelle Weavers (lead, Burlington), former OUA competitor Courtney Smith (vice, St. Catharines), and first-year standout Renee Boyce (second, St. Catharines). The Knights are coached by two-time defending OCAA Coach of the year Jordan Thin.
The field consists of the Augustana Vikings, Concordia Thunder, Fanshawe Falcons, Humber Hawks, Lakeland Rustlers, NAIT Ooks, Red Deer Queens, and Niagara Knights.
The championship is an eight team round robin format that will see each team play seven total games. At the end of the round robin, the top four teams will advance to the medal round matches scheduled for Saturday morning.
Draw one gets underway at 9:00 am on March 22nd, with the gold medal match set for 2:30pm on Saturday, March 25th.
The Knights schedule consists of:
March 22
9:00am - Humber vs. Niagara
2:00pm – Fanshawe vs. Niagara
March 23
9:00am – Concordia vs. Niagara
2:00pm – NAIT vs. Niagara
7:00pm – Red Deer vs. Niagara
March 24
9:00am – Lakeland vs. Niagara
2:00pm – Augustana vs. Niagara
For all information regarding the 2017 CCAA curling national championship, please visit the tournament website at http://ccaa.ca/sports/mbkb/championship/information/index