Music: {allcanada} JUNIOR RINKS BATTLE FOR NATIONAL TITLES IN NAPANEE

Thursday, February 2, 2012

{allcanada} JUNIOR RINKS BATTLE FOR NATIONAL TITLES IN NAPANEE

(CCA) - The M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Men's and Women's Curling Championships begin Saturday in Napanee, Ontario.

Both the women's and men's finals will be played at the Strathcona Paper Centre and will be televised live across Canada on TSN & RDS (in Quebec). The women's final takes place on Saturday, February 11 at 7pm et/4pm pt while the men's final is on Sunday, February 12, also at 7pm et/4pm pt.

On the men's side, among this year's skips are Newfoundland/Labrador's Colin Thomas of St. John's, who finished third at last year's M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Calgary, won last year's CIS/CCA University Curling Championship and most recently earned a silver medal at the Karuizawa Invitational in Japan. Also, Yukon's Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, who was a bronze medallist at the recent Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, will be making a record-tying sixth straight appearance as skip.

On the women's side, Northern Ontario skip Kendra Lilly of Sudbury, third place finisher in 2010, will be making her fourth appearance, joining others who competed in last year's championship as well, such as New Brunswick's Jennifer Armstrong of Rothesay, Newfoundland/Labrador's Erica Trickett of St. John's, Northwest Territories' Taryn Williams of Yellowknife, Prince Edward Island's Sarah Fullerton of Cornwall and Yukon's Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse, who will be making a record sixth Juniors appearance as skip.

Alberta has since won a leading 15 men's titles, Saskatchewan is next with 14, while Ontario has nine, the last by Jake Walker in 2010 in Sorel-Tracy.

Saskatchewan has won a leading 11 women's titles since 1971, while Ontario has just three crowns, the last by Rachel Homan in 2010 in Sorel-Tracy.