U SPORTS, Canadian Colleges curling championships begin Tuesday in Fredericton

Four post-secondary curling programs will arrive in Fredericton, N.B., with visions of repeats on their minds when the 2024 U SPORTS/Curling Canada Canadian University Championships and Canadian Colleges Athletic Association/Curling Canada Canadian College Championships get underway on Tuesday.

All four winning programs — with all four skips still calling the shots — from the 2023 events in Sudbury, Ont., are back for the 2024 championships, which kick off Tuesday with the first draw at 4:30 p.m. (all times Atlantic) at the Aitken University Centre and the Capital Winter Club.

In addition to national titles, the added incentive for the 32 teams that will be competing in Fredericton will be the chance for the winning men’s and women’s teams to play at the 2024 PointsBet Invitational next fall in Calgary.

In the U SPORTS University Championships, both the University of Alberta Pandas from Edmonton and the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks from Waterloo, Ont., return with the exact same lineups from last year.

The Pandas women’s lineup of skip Serena Gray-Withers, vice-skip Catherine Clifford, Brianna Cullen, Zoe Cinnamon and coach Amanda St.-Laurent will be in action in the opening draw, taking on the host University of New Brunswick Reds, skipped by Jenna Campbell.

On the men’s side, the Golden Hawks lineup of skip Sam Mooibroek, vice-skip Kibo Mulima, second Wyatt Small, lead Ben Pearce, alternate Codie Harris and coach Matt Wilkinson gets its title defence underway Tuesday at 9 p.m. against the University of Regina Cougars, skipped by Joshua Bryden.

The women’s field is rounded out by the Dalhousie University Tigers from Halifax, the Laurentian University Voyageurs from Sudbury, Ont., the McMaster University Marauders from Hamilton, the Mount Allison University Mounties from Sackville, N.B., the University of Waterloo Warriors from Waterloo, Ont., and the University of Victoria Vikes from Victoria.

Joining Wilfrid Laurier and Regina in the men’s field are the University of Alberta Golden Bears from Edmonton, the Brock University Badgers from St. Catharines, Ont., the Dalhousie University Tigers from Halifax, the University of Guelph Gryphons from Guelph, Ont., the host University of New Brunswick Reds, and the Saint Mary’s University Huskies from Halifax.

In addition to the trip to the PointsBet Invitational, the U SPORTS men’s champions will be nominated to represent Canada at the 2025 FISU World University Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The women’s champions in Fredericton could also qualify, depending on what other nations apply to compete. A seventh-place finish by Canada’s women’s team at the 2023 FISU Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., was not enough to secure a berth into the 2025 women’s field.

Meanwhile, both winning skips from the 2023 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) championships are back, albeit with slightly different lineups.

Josie Zimmerman skipped the Camrose-based University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings to victory last year, and is back with vice-skip Claire Bevan-Stewart (moving from second last year) and Hope Zimmerman (moving from alternate last year). The team is rounded out by new lead Randi Cameron and coach Steve Lindberg, and will play its first game Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against the Fanshawe College Falcons, skipped by Veronica Van Broekhoven, from London, Ont.

On the men’s side, skip Jacob Dobson, second Noah Garner and lead Matthew Abrams are back for the defending champion Humber College Hawks from Toronto, as is vice-skip Kevin Genjaga, who was the alternate last year. Alternate Matthew Moretto and coach Zack Shurtleff complete the team, which is in action Tuesday at 9 p.m. against the Red Deer (Alberta) Polytechnic Kings, skipped by Jaden Morlock.

The CCAA Championships women’s field is rounded out by the Assiniboine College Cougars from Brandon, Man., the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder, the Humber College Hawks from Toronto, the Mohawk College Mountaineers from Hamilton, Team PacWest from British Columbia and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans from Calgary.

The Assiniboine College Cougars from Brandon, the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder, the Mohawk College Mountaineers from Hamilton, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks from Edmonton, the SAIT Trojans from Calgary and the Sault College Cougars from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., complete the men’s field.

In both the U SPORTS and CCAA Championships, the eight-team men’s and women’s fields will play a single round-robin, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals, which are set for 9:30 a.m. on March 16, followed by the medal games at 2:30 p.m.

Selected games from the U SPORTS and CCAA Championships will be streamed live on Curling Canada+. 

Live scoring for both events is available by CLICKING HERE.

For lineups and the full schedule, along with ticket information for the U SPORTS Championships, CLICK HERE. 

For lineups and the full schedule, along with ticket information for the CCAA Championships, CLICK HERE.