St. Albert skip Jamie King is going to his first Brier as the fifth man for the Kevin Koe rink.
King, 36, also served as the extra man for the Saville Sports Centre foursome at the 2009 Roar of the Rings.
Koe, third Blake MacDonald, who recently moved to St. Albert, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen won the right to represent Alberta by defeating the Ferbey Four at the recent provincial final at Olds.
The Brier starts March 6 at Halifax, N.S.
Next week the Drive for Five starts for King and his Thursday night men’s team at the St. Albert Curling Club. The four-time reigning club champions, known as Hootie and the Old Fish, includes third Craig King, second Ralph Killips, lead Brian Pfeifer and fifth man Elson Keown. The veteran line-up was victorious at the 2006 Tournament of Champions and was the runner up in 2009, an extra end loss to Jamie Fletcher in the final.
King and his men will have their hands full in the club playoffs as the junior rink skipped by Ben Bellamy is gunning to knock off the defending champs.
Bellamy, third Kenton Maschmeyer, second Brett Winfield and lead Jaques Bellamy are coming off a bronze-medal showing in the U16 division for zone 5 at the Lakeland 2010 Alberta Winter Games. They are also competing in the Optimist juvenile northern playdowns this weekend in St. Albert. Thirteen rinks are vying for two spots at provincials, starting March 5 at Wainwright.
Regardless how the playoffs unfold for the Old Fishes, they will represent St. Albert at the Dominion northern club playdowns at the end of March in Sherwood Park. The club is sending its 2009 men’s and women’s champions to northerns. At stake are three qualifying spots at provincials.
Joining the Old Fishes at the Dominion playdowns are the Wednesday night ladies’ rink skipped by Kathy Piper. With Christina Monk on maternity leave from the three-time defending women’s club champs and 2009 city finalists, Piper was promoted from lead to skip. Laurie Schreiner is the third and Nicole Bellamy throws second rocks. On board fulltime at lead is Shirley Haggith.
The Piper foursome are also curling in the ladies’ club playoffs next week.
The mixed club playoffs start March 1. In the running for their fourth straight club crown is the Awards Windows rink of skip Doug McLennan, third Alison Howes, second Colin Jenkyns and lead Ashley Ferguson. They have dominated the Thursday night mixed league after a disappointing performance at the St. Albert mixed bonspiel in October as they were slowly rounding into shape for the upcoming season.
Anders Cowper of the St. Albert Nordic Ski Club (STANSKI) is making tracks with the Alberta junior development team.
The Sir George Simpson student is part of STANSKI’s junior development team, trains with the Edmonton Nordic Ski Club and achieved podium finishes in recent Alberta Cup races.
Cowper was also one of eight STANSKI athletes to compete for zone 5 at the recent Lakeland 2010 Alberta Winter Games. He was the silver medallist in the 13-14 midget male classic, midget male sprint and midget male relay events.
The 25th annual St. Albert 10-miler surpassed 100 entries Friday morning for the April 18 road race, hosted by the St. Albert Roadrunners and Triathlon Club.
Entry fees are $45 online through www.eventsonline.ca, $55 mailed in or dropped off at Cranky’s Bike Shop or the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club (SVAC) and $65 on race day at Grandin Mall. Race time is 9:30 a.m.
Forms can be picked up at the Tech Shop, Kinsmen Sports Centre, the Running Room, Cranky’s, SVAC and all race sponsors.
Check out www.starrt.com for more information.
The course record of 976 runners was set in 1998. Last year 651 runners completed the race.
The 10-miler is sanctioned by Athletics Alberta and is part of the TIMEX Canadian Road Race Series.
