ACAC Bonspiel #2 wraps up at Red Deer’s Pidherney Centre
With Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Bonspiel #2 in the books, the focus for the conference curling teams will now shift to the upcoming ACAC Championships from March 5-6.
Bonspiel #2 featured many exciting games at Pidherney Centre and the student-athletes and coaches enjoyed the camaraderie and high level of competition.
The Lakeland College Rustlers Women's team went 2-0 with wins over the RDP Queens (6-5) and the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings (10-4).
On the men's side, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings finished 4-0. The RDP Kings and Queens did not participate in Bonspiel #1, so they competed in four games on Saturday, while the other squads played two.
The SAIT Trojans Men's team split their games, defeating the Vikings 5-3 and then dropping a 7-2 decision to the host Red Deer Polytechnic Kings.
For SAIT Trojans Curling Head Coach Shannon Kleibrink, it was a great day for her student-athletes to gain some valuable experience.
"It's only been our second weekend that we've been able to be on the ice, so there is a lot of learning out there and it is great to see the level of competition that is here," said Kleibrink, who skipped her team to an Olympic bronze medal in 2006.
After four games at both bonspiels, Kleibrink is pleased with how the Trojans Men's team finished.
"I've been really impressed. Our men's team won one and lost one today, so we are 3-1 after the first two weekends which is really respectable," she explained. "We came up against a really hot Red Deer team in the last game and they sort of taught us a lesson, but that's good, too. There is lots to learn from that."
The Lakeland College Rustlers Mixed Curling team had a solid outing, picking up an 8-7 win over SAIT and 7-5 decision over the NAIT Ooks. SAIT's Mixed team was edged in their two games, 8-7 and 8-5, but Kleibrink appreciated the growth from the student-athletes.
"I'm really proud of the mixed team too. We have a fairly inexperienced mixed team and a brand new skip," said Kleibrink. "They are really coming along. They lost both today, but both were really close, down to the last rock – an extra end even."
On November 26, 2021, it was announced on the SAIT Trojans' website that Kleibrink was coaching the Trojans Curling program.
"Since I retired, I've done lots of coaching and I love to see the progression of the students and how much they've improved even in the month and a half that I've been with them," she added. "I really like being on the warm side of the glass and hopefully I can inspire some of these guys to curl for a lifetime."
Women's Results
Lakeland 6 – RDP 5
NAIT 6 – CUE 5
RDP 7 – CUE 1
Lakeland 10 – UAA 4
RDP 8 – NAIT 1
RDP 5 – UAA 2
Men's Results
RDP 10 – CUE 3
RDP 5 – NAIT 3
SAIT 5 – UAA 3
RDP 7 – SAIT 2
NAIT 9 – CUE 3
RDP 9 – UAA 2
Mixed Team Results
Lakeland 8 – SAIT 7
Lakeland 7 – NAIT 5
NAIT 8 – SAIT 5