Team Jones finishes fourth

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Strathmore’s junior girls curling Team Jones placed fourth at junior provincials with a 4-3 record this past week in Grande Prairie.
Third Krista Shortridge felt that the team played to their potential and can build on that for next season.
“I definitely had a lot of fun, the girls worked hard and everything that we’ve done so far this year paid off,” said Shortridge.
The fourth place finish was not good enough to advance to the junior nationals later this month but there were a lot of positives to take out of the experience.
“To get to nationals you have to be first, so the top women’s team in the province goes to nationals. We placed fourth out of eight teams that were there,” said Shortridge.
She added that playing in a highly competitive environment was a good measuring stick for the team.
“It’s definitely a competitive atmosphere, but I think together as a team we all handled it very well. It was the first time for our lead Hannah (Airey) to be in an atmosphere like that, she’s only 13, we were a little worried about how she would handle it,” said Shortridge.
“When you’re competing at a level like that, you start to see a side of people you’ve never seen before because it’s just the pressure that takes a toll on some people’s personalities. I think she handled it very well and together as a team we did just fine.
The provincial tournament marked the end to Team Jones’ season but they plan to participate in some bonspiels in Calgary to stay active and work towards their goals for next season.