By Brady Lang

Silvernagle shines in Red Deer Classic

Nov 20, 2018 | 4:00 PM

Amid controversy on the weekend, it was a big weekend for Biggar’s Robyn Silvernagle.

The skip, who resides in North Battleford, along with third Stephanie Lawton, second Jessie Hunkin and lead Kara Thevenot defeated the Jie Mei team from China 8-5 in the championship game to claim $10,000 in first-place prize money at the 2018 Red Deer Curling Classic.

The rink won their first two games in the tournament and then dropped their third game against Brette Richards of B.C. in Extras. They did tighten up their performance, winning six-straight games to take the championship. Silvernagle said that they tweaked up their performance after that loss, which eventually led to the big win.

“It’s always a learning process, and trying to figure things out,” she said. “Learning about the ice, depending on where you’re playing. Just keep tweaking all those little things that we need to be doing.”

In the bonspiel, the rink took on three different competitors from outside Canada in Dubberstein (USA), Nakajima (JPN) and eventually in the finals against Mei (CHN). Getting that added experience against teams from across the globe helps them see what the game is doing across all different platforms, Silvernagel said.

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“It’s always fun to play teams from all over the world,” she said. “These teams are playing all the big ‘spiels; they’re all getting a lot better. They’re honing in on their craft too; they’re getting really good. It gives you that experience of playing teams you don’t see all the time, which is nice.”

Next up for Silvernagel’s rink, a trip to Lloydminster for the boundary Ford Curling Classic. They come into the bonspiel as defending champions.

On the other side of the ice, Saskatchewan’s showing in Red Deer proved to be a sweep. Kody Hartung and his Saskatchewan-based rink topped Brendan Bottcher 7-6 to claim the men’s division title.

The two wins by the Saskatchewan rinks were overshadowed to some extent, however. The Classic included controversy after Jamie Koe’s rink was disqualified for “unsportsmanlike behaviour”.

Reports indicate that the foursome from Yellowknife was ejected due to breaking brooms, using foul language and putting on a display that was unacceptable. The team has since been apologetic, with Koe issuing a statement on Twitter that reads, “On behalf of my team, I would like to apologize to everyone involved in the 2018 Red Deer Curling Classic. Due to a lapse in judgment on Saturday, we contributed to an unpleasant experience for others. Although I removed myself from the last game before it started, the actions from the team led to our disqualification. We were disrespectful and the committee was right to disqualify us from further play which we did not argue. I would like to sincerely apologize to the athletes, fans and organizers at the event. I will be taking steps to ensure this never happens again.”

Silvernagle declined to comment on the situation over the weekend.

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB