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Kleibrink wins provincial championship

An Okotoks curler will be getting another shot at a national title. Shannon Kleibrink earned a spot in the national Scotties Canadian Women’s Curling Championships, beginning Feb. 19 in Charlottetown, PEI by winning the Alberta Scotties title Jan.
Shannon Kleibrink takes a short during the provincial curling championships in Canmore. The Okotoks curler advanced to the Scotties with a victory at the provincials.
Shannon Kleibrink takes a short during the provincial curling championships in Canmore. The Okotoks curler advanced to the Scotties with a victory at the provincials.

An Okotoks curler will be getting another shot at a national title.

Shannon Kleibrink earned a spot in the national Scotties Canadian Women’s Curling Championships, beginning Feb. 19 in Charlottetown, PEI by winning the Alberta Scotties title Jan. 30 in Camrose.

Kleibrink’s and her rink of Amy Nixon (third), Bronwen Webster (second) and Chelsey Bell (lead) edged out Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin 9-4 in the final game at Camrose’s Encana Arena Sunday.

“Kudos to my team, they played amazing,” Kleibrink said, following the victory.

More than 1,300 people watched the title match — a record for the Alberta provincials.

Kleibrink, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist swept her way through the tournament and secured the top-seed with an undefeated record.

She accomplished the same feat in last year’s bonspiel before falling in the final to Valerie Sweeting. While the parallels between the two years existed, Kleibrink said the 2010 setback was not on her mind.

“That was a glitch last year, we just didn’t have a good final,” she said.

Kleibrink advanced to the one-two playoff game on Saturday, by going 3-0 in the A event.

She opened the Alberta Scotties with a convincing 7-1 victory over Heather Rankin on Jan. 22. Then in a preview of the Alberta final she slipped by Nedohin 8-6 on Thursday. She won the A event by beating Crystal Webster 10-4 Thursday evening.

Her first-place finish set up a one-two playoff clash against rival Cheryl Bernard.

The elimination matchup of former Olympians was hardly a new experience for Kleibrink.

She and Bernard have tangled several times in Alberta playdowns and National tournaments –perhaps most notably in the Olympic Trials final in December 2009. Bernard won that game on her final rock and went on to represent Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics winning a silver medal.

Kleibrink ended a two-game personal losing streak against the Calgarian with an extra end victory to ensure a berth in the final.

“We went out there and did the job we knew we could do,” she said.

Bernard, the reigning Olympic silver-medalist, dropped the subsequent semifinal to the Nedohin rink on Sunday morning.

Nedohin had little time to celebrate, however, as the final was played later that afternoon.

Kleibrink got off to a fast start against Nedohin in the decisive final match.

Leading 3-1 after three ends, she managed to tap back her final stone to score two in the fourth. The deuce put Kleibrink up 5-1 after four ends and put her rink in the driver’s seat.

The teams traded deuces over the next two ends as Nedohin began to run out of rocks.

The final chance for the Edmonton rink came in the eighth end as Nedohin had a tough runback for the chance to score four. Fortunately for Kleibrink, the opposing skip’s rock overcurled and Nedohin was forced to settle for one.

“That was not a good end for us and we were in all kinds of danger,” Kleibrink recalled. “We breathed a huge sigh of relief.”

Up 7-4, Kleibrink added two more in the ninth end with last rock to secure the victory.

Although Nedohin wasn’t able to mount a comeback, Kleibrink said she knew her opponent was capable of beating them at any time. This just wasn’t one of those days.

“We were just expecting a really tough game out of them. They had some bad breaks early and got behind and things went our way,” Kleibrink explained.

The relaxed nature of the Provincial championship was on display during the team’s subdued celebration.

Kleibrink said her team has never felt more relaxed during a major tournament. That peace of mind allowed her rink to put forward one of their most consistent efforts ever, she said.

“It was probably the most relaxed championship we’ve ever played.”

It also helped that the players in front of Kleibrink were playing at an unprecedented high level.

According to Kleibrink, the degree of difficulty for her shots was dramatically lowered due to the efficiency of Nixon, Webster and Bell.

“That is maybe the steadiest that the three people in front of me have ever played. My shots were so simple that I would had to have really been having a bad day to miss most of them,” Kleibrink said.

She also credited the phenomenal ice conditions throughout the week as a key to her team’s success.

“The ice this year was just so amazing that it made you very confident,” she said. “It was absolutely top-notch.”

The ice-making was conducted by Jamie Bourassa, who will also be in charge of the ice at next week’s Alberta Men’s Provincial Championships in High River.

Kleibrink’s rink will be busy over the next couple of weeks in preparation for another shot at the National title.

The Alberta representatives will be practicing quite a bit up until their departure on Feb. 17 for Prince Edward Island.

“We’ll be scrambling for some exhibition games and a bunch of practice ice and we’ll keep busy between now and then and hopefully carry some momentum into (Nationals),” Kleibrink said.

The field has mostly been set for the Charlottetown showdown with many high-profile rinks making the trip.

Among those who will look to stop Alberta from claiming the title will be B.C’s Kelly Scott, Jennifer Jones and Manitoba’s Cathy Overton-Clapham.

A rematch with Jones will bring some intrigue to curling fans who witnessed Kleibrink’s loss to her in the 2008 Scotties final. That game ended on a missed final takeout for the win by Kleibrink.

The Alberta champion will open the Scotties tournament on Feb. 19 with a match against Kerry Galusha of the Territories.

Kleibrink will be making her fourth trip to the Scotties National championships.

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