Alberta rink defends national curling crown

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Skip Renee Sonnenberg and the Alberta rink curled their way to a second consecutive victory at the National Aboriginal Curling Championship held April 17 to 21 in Saskatoon.

Sonnenberg stole six in the eighth end against a Loon Lake rink sponsored by Makwa Sahgaiehcan, ending the game with a score of 12-3. Throwing the final stones for Makwa was Jennifer Regnier, who was the National Aboriginal Curling champion in 1995 and who had numerous provincial playdowns this winter curling in Edmonton.

Sonnenberg, now living in Grande Prairie, has appeared on the Canadian national scene at the prestigious Scott Tournament of Hearts as the Alberta representative in 1999 and 2001. In addition, she was on the winning teams for one mixed and two junior provincial championships.

Sonnenberg, with the hammer, had her chance to score two in the second end, but failed to hit and stick with her final throw, counting only one. Her squad, however, recovered stealing one in an exciting third end.

After lead Simone Handfield (Sonnenberg's mom) threw up a guard and Kim Regnier replied with a stone in the back 12, no inch was given, none surrendered for most of the end as the seconds and thirds, Christina Bird and Nikki Smith (Sonnenberg's rink) and Nancy Dancy and Dianne Sergeew (Regnier's rink) combined to congest 10 rocks inside the eight-foot.

Numerous team discussions about possible shot combinations brought the end to a methodical crawl, especially by Regnier who faced surrendering a deuce with two Sonnenberg stones near the button. Eventually, after the clutter was cleared, a measurement determined Sonnenberg's steal.

Regnier replied with a two-spot in the fourth, and with her last rock in the fifth, bumped her shot off a guard leaving the shooter protected in the eight-foot for a steal and a 3-2 lead. Sonnenberg counted her two in the sixth when on her last throw, all of her teammates vigourously swept just to get the rock into the eight-foot.

"I was struggling early on with my shots and, later in the game, I switched rocks with my mom, but it could have just been me," Sonnenberg said about ice that may have been degraded by warm outdoor temperatures.

The decisive frame was the seventh when Regnier tried to knock a guard into the house to avoid the steal. Instead she gave up two and, down 6-3, was forced to gamble in the eighth.

"If I would have made the nose hit and run back, it should have spilled two, but instead it over-curled," said Regnier.

Seventy-seven teams participated in the 11th annual championship, with 48 men's teams, 17 women's, eight junior men's squads and four junior women's rinks. Most of the entries were from Alberta and Saskatchewan, although three teams traveled from Yellowknife.

To register for 2004, contact Maynard Whitehead at (306) 384-8153.