An Okotoks curler truly had a Super Sunday on the weekend.
The Deb Miller rink won its second straight Foothills Triple Crown on the strength of a victory at the Okotoks Ladies Bonspiel Sunday at the Okotoks Curling Club.
“You know what? We didn’t even think about it,” Miller said with a smile. “We came off the ice and someone told us we won the Triple Crown.”
Miller won the A side of the Okotoks bonspiel when she knocked off Jenica Copithorne of the Calgary Curling Club 6-4 in a final that came down to the last rock.
The Okotoks curler went into the final end up 5-4 but Copithorne had the hammer.
On Copithorne’s last rock Miller was scoring two with her shot rock on the eight-foot behind a guard. Copithorne was able to clear Miller’s rock, but her shooter spun out of the house. Miller had one rock clinging to the back edge of the house to steal one for the 6-4 victory.
Copithorne nearly made a spectacular raise runback double on her first rock of the last end, but a sweeping error might have cost her a chance at the title.
”I made the double and we didn’t sweep the second rock (Miller’s),” Copithorne said. “That back stone, the one we didn’t sweep, was the one that Debbie counted. If we would have swept it, it would have gone out of the house and I either would have won or we would have gone to another end.”
Copithorne added it was also some good shooting by Miller’s rink in the final end that led to the victory.
On Miller’s final rock she was able to clear Copithorne’s shot rock and stick. With her other rock clinging to the back of the other side of the house, it made it impossible for Copithorne to take two and the victory.
“We just didn’t want to give her a chance for two,” Miller said. “We wanted to make it so the worse that could happen was an extra end.”
Miller’s third, Susan Lypkie, set up the drama by coming around a guard and practically putting the rock on the button. Lypkie’s shot rock was the one Copithorne was unable to sweep out of the house when she made her raise runback.
“That was just the shot that Debbie told me to make,” Lypkie said with a laugh.
Miller had actually clinched the Triple Crown with her 7-5 victory over Janis Stark in the A semifinal.
The Triple Crown consists of combined points from three bonspiels; each rink receiving five points for each win at the Oilfields bonspiel, 10 points for the High River bonspiel and 15 for the final bonspiel in Okotoks.
Miller was five points behind Janis Stark of High River going into the Okotoks bonspiel.
Ironically, they met in the semifinal in Okotoks and Miller took a commanding 4-1 lead over Stark after two ends when she stole three in the second.
“I just couldn’t hit the four-foot,” Stark said. “Debbie was lying three and all I had to do was draw to the four-foot and I couldn’t do it. We got behind 4-1 and after that we were playing catch-up.”
The early exit might do Stark some good. She will need her rest as co-chairperson of the Alberta Men’s Championship in High River this week.
Miller won the Triple Crown with 130 points. Copithorne was second at 100 at Stark third at 95. The Miller rink consists of Kerry Imler, lead; Gail Giroux, second; Lypkie and Miller. Their spare is Marg Cox.
The Angie Steciw rink of Okotoks won the B event at the Okotoks bonspiel. They are Steciw, Laurie Alton, Luann Ostroski and Donna Cameron.
The C event title went to Okotoks’ Dianne Young rink which includes Tamsyn McLean, skip; Young, third; Faye Lian Yip, second and Shelly Vold, lead. The D event was won by the Libby Clark rink of Okotoks. They are, Clark, skip; Shelly Arnold, third; Caroline MacDonald; second and Amanda Givens, lead.
The ladies’ bonspiel was a huge success, with 36 teams entered. Copithorne said the hard work done by the organizers might have helped her get to the final.
“They did an amazing job,” Copithorne said with a smile. “We came up against the organizers (Team Ingrid Warnock) and they were exhausted... Maybe that helped us.”
