Rinks skipped by Rebecca Roberts and Greg Blyde will represent Memorial University at the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) curling championships beginning Thursday in Fredericton, N.B.
The Blyde rink from St. John’s, which also includes Liam Gregory, Kyle Barron and Ian Withycombe, will be looking to defend the AUS men’s title won by Adam Boland and his teammates in 2017. The Boland rink went on to win the U Sports national men’s title last year, finishing with a perfect 17-0 record in combined AUS and U Sports competition.
The lineup for Sea-Hawks’ female entry is almost the same as the one Roberts, a native of Kippens, skipped at the Scotties provincial women’s championship last month. Chantal Newell, also of Kippens, and Lauren Barron of St. John’s were also on Roberts’s team at the Scotties, with the lone change coming at lead, where Stephanie Nadeau of Red Bay, Labrador replaces Sidney Parsons of St. John’s.
Blyde didn’t skip a team at the Tankard provincial men’s championship, but Withycombe did compete as the lead for eventual champion Greg Smith. As well, Blyde, Gregory and Withycombe all represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2017 national junior event.
There are six men’s and seven women’s teams entered in this week’s AUS championship. The Memorial women, coached by Wallace Gregory, play their first game Thursday afternoon against host UNB. The men, coached by Craig Withycombe, open against St. Francis Xavier in an evening matchup.
Three teams from each of the AUS competitions will represent the conference at the 2018 U Sports/CCA championships hosted by the University of Alberta in Leduc, Alta., next month.
