Hadway proud of Lukowich team’s performance

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This article was published 28/01/2023 (993 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dauphin’s Makenna Hadway and her teammates on Katy Lukowich’s quartet from the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg were one win away from making the championship pool at the 2023 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts in East St. Paul.

While they ended up with a 2-3 record and were beaten out for the third and final berth from the Asham Black Group by Darcy Robertson, Hadway was thrilled with how the team played in their first appearance at the event.

“We were really there to try and get some experience and I don’t think there were a lot of expectations for us to make a lot of noise,” said Hadway, who throws lead rocks.

“We would have loved to have kept going here, but we accomplished our goals and I think this week is going to help us out a lot in the future.”

The Lukowich rink — which also features third Lauren Rajala and second Mikaylah Lyburn, who was born in Brandon and grew up in Winnipeg — was officially eliminated from the event with a 7-6 loss to Beth Peterson Friday morning

They earned wins over Chelsea Carey and Emma Jensen but dropped games to Robertson and Kaitlyn Lawes.

“We had chances in those games that we lost and I think if we were to face those teams again down the line, we’d have a good chance against them with the knowledge we gained this week,” Hadway said. “We’re definitely a lot more confident than we were when the week started.”

The Lukowich team was one of two junior squads competing at the Scotties. Grace Beaudry’s St. Vital quartet went 2-3 in the Asham Express Red Group.

Hadway said competing at the biggest event on the Manitoba women’s curling calendar was completely different than anything she was used to.

“The intensity is completely amped up compared to junior play,” Hadway added.

“It was a little weird to have people pretty much next to you in the stands to watch the action and cheer you on … it took me a little bit to get used to that.”

Meanwhile, fellow Dauphinite Lane Prokopowich was also pleased with her rink’s showing in East St. Paul.

Prokopowich, who is the third on Jensen’s team from Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg, went 1-4 in the Asham Black Group and was in the mix for a championship pool spot heading into Friday’s draw, then lost 9-7 to Robertson.

Their lone win came 9-8 in an extra end over Carey on Wednesday.

“Record aside, we accomplished a lot of the goals that we set out for ourselves,” Prokopowich said. “We communicated well and we had a lot of chances in our games, even though the scoreboard might not have shown it.”

Alyssa Calvert’s Carberry rink, which includes third Stacey Irwin, second Pam Robins and lead Roz Taylor, went 1-4 in the Asham Express Red Group.

They wrapped up the tournament with a 7-1 rout over Kristy Watling on Friday afternoon.

“It was pretty similar to how the provincials went in Carberry last year,” Irwin said. “We had two games against Beaudry and (Lisa) McLeod where it came down to the end and if we had won those, we might have been in a position to make the championship pool.

“We would have liked to have had a few more wins on the board, but we were curling really well and we’re happy about that,” Taylor added.

EXTRA ENDS: Mike McEwen entered championship pool play at the Ontario Men’s Tankard on Friday night with a 5-0 record and in a tie for first place with Glenn Howard. McEwen’s rink includes Ryan Fry at third, Brent Laing at second and Joey Hart at lead.

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