THE HOG LINE: Prokopowich headed to Canadian World Junior Qualifier

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2021 (1606 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite it being almost a week since she got to wear the Buffalo for the first time in her curling career,  Lane Prokopowich was still coming to grips with being a part of a provincial championship squad.

The 20-year-old from Dauphin, who throws third stones for Meghan Walter’s rink from the East St. Paul Curling Club, captured the Manitoba Junior Women’s title Sunday at the Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg and will now represent the province at the Canadian World Junior Qualifier in Saskatoon from Nov. 22 to 27.

“I’m definitely still in shock,” Prokopowich said. “The feelings that I have are just like if we had won the event two minutes ago.

“It’s pretty amazing for all of us and I’m not sure it will feel real until we have our send-off party next weekend or when we start our journey to Saskatoon.”

This marked the second straight junior provincial that Prokopowich had reached the final.

She was the lead on Serena Gray-Withers’ rink that dropped a 10-4 decision to eventual national and world junior champion Mackenzie Zacharias in January 2020. 

“I think it was definitely good to have that experience from that provincial in Dauphin as I knew what to expect and I did a better job of managing my emotions and keeping my nerves down,” Prokopowich said.

“I just kept reminding myself that this was just a curling game and to just have fun with it. I tried to enjoy the experience as much as I could and if everything worked out for us, that would be great.”

Prokopowich, who is in her third year of studies at the University of Manitoba as she works towards a degree in psychology, is in her second campaign with the Walter rink.

The squad, which also includes Katie McKenzie and Mackenzie Elias, curled in a handful of events last year before COVID-19 brought a halt to the season.

“We were on a bit of a win streak when the pandemic hit last fall, so it was nice to be able to pick up right where we left off when we started playing again,” Prokopowich said.

“We’re a pretty balanced team that’s pretty determined to reach our goals. We all love the game and we all look forward to getting on the ice with each other. We’ve built a pretty good bond over the last couple of years and we’re excited to see where we can go from here.”

In normal circumstances, the COVID-19 pandemic would have brought a halt to the Walter rink’s goal of playing in a Canadian juniors, as they would have aged out of the circuit.

However, with no representative determined for the 2022 World Juniors in Sweden, Curling Canada put together a under-21 competition for this fall, which put the Walter rink back in the mix.

“The chance to represent Manitoba at the juniors is something we’ve dreamed about, so to have that opportunity once again was something that we wanted to take advantage of,” Prokopowich said.

“We had the chance to play in a women’s tour event and a Scotties qualifier leading into the provincials and I think that helped us out a lot, especially as we got to play against some really good teams after being on the sidelines for almost a year.”

After posting a 3-2 record to finish second in the round-robin standings, the Walter rink cruised to a 13-4 win over Tansy Tober’s Fort Garry Curling Club squad in the semifinal.

They followed that up with a 7-3 triumph in the final over Emma Jensen’s rink from the Heather, with the turning point being steals of two and three points in back-to-back ends as they held a 5-0 advantage after the third frame.

“We didn’t have the best start to the week as we lost our first game (to Grace Beaudry of the St. Vital) but I think that’s something that we almost needed to have happen to be honest,” Prokopowich said. “After that game, we knew that we had to do things differently. We need to do a better job of executing our shots and capitalizing on the chances that our opponents gave us. Once we started doing that, we were a lot more comfortable as the weekend went on.

“It felt really good to get those two big wins in the playoffs, especially in the final when we had that big lead early, but we knew that we had to keep our foot on the gas pedal. It’s a 10-end game and there’s a lot that can happen.”

While Prokopowich, McKenzie and Elias have never competed at a national competition, Walter has won a Canadian and world title as the third for Colin Kurz’s mixed rink in 2018 and 2019.

She also skipped the provincial U18 championship squad in 2020, but was unable to compete at the nationals due to the pandemic.

“The experience that Meghan has at those events is going to be huge for all of us, especially as we get used to being on a big stage like this for the first time,” said Prokopowich, who will celebrate her 21st birthday on Thursday.

“It’s going to be important for us to get into a routine once we get to Saskatoon, as we’re going to be getting used to being in a different province and going up against new teams in a rink that we haven’t played in before. If we play the game the way we know that we can and adapt quickly to our new surroundings, things will hopefully turn out in our favour and we can make Manitoba proud.”

The trip to the World Junior Qualifier has also resulted in a change to the Walter rink’s plans for this season, as they will now miss out on competing for a spot at next month’s provincial Scotties in Carberry.

Their regional playdowns take place during the Saskatoon event but Prokopowich is confident the team will have plenty of opportunities to crack the 12-team provincial field in the near future.

“The week in Saskatoon is going to be special, especially since the Olympic Curling Trials are going on at the same time that we are there,” she said. “We’re going to be focussed on our own event, but we’re going to try and see the semifinal or the final after the juniors wrap up so that we can watch the teams that we look up to in person.”

Manitoba will also be represented by Jordon McDonald’s team from the Deer Lodge in Saskatoon as they picked up a 7-1 win in the men’s final over Jordan Johnson of the St. Vital.

U21 curlers have another chance to earn a provincial title in February as the Brandon Curling Club hosts the 2022 juniors from Feb. 22 to 27.

The winners from that competition go to the Canadian Championships in Sudbury, Ont. next March for the chance to represent Canada at the 2023 World Juniors. 

EXTRA ENDS: Randy Neufeld and his La Salle rink earned their third Manitoba senior men’s title Tuesday with a 7-4 win over Dauphin’s Ray Baker at the Pembina Curling Club. Kim Link’s squad from the East St. Paul capture the senior women’s title a day earlier with a 7-4 triumph over Norma Purdy of the St. Vital. Neufeld and Link represent the province at the Canadian Senior Curling Championship next month in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. … The Manitoba Mixed Doubles Curling Tour is paying a visit to the Brandon Curling Club on Dec. 11 and 12. Those looking to take part in the event can contact Steven Michaleski at 204-803-1288 or e-mail mbmdtour@protonmail.com.

» lpunkari@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @lpunkari