 British Columbia's Kayla Macmillan (Photo: Curling Canada) defeated Manitoba's Kate Cameron 7-3 in the Asham Icebreaker Challenge in Morris, Manitoba. By Connor Simms, #32 World-Ranked Kayla Macmillan, Lindsay Dubue, and Sarah Loken introduced a new lineup for the 2025-2026 season. They brought in a five-person team lineup, adding Brittany Tran and Lauren Lenentine. Tran recently played with Saskatchewan's Ashley Thevenot, where Lenentine is coming off Scottie's runner-up finishes with Jennifer Jones and, most recently at fifth for Manitoba's Kerri Einarson. This meant the departure of the previous third, Sarah Daniels. They kicked off their 2025-2026 season in Morris, Manitoba, at the Asham Icebreaker Challenge. MacMillan finished 4-0 in the 10-team qualifying round. In their opening game, MacMillan defeated Manitoba's Shaela Hayward 11-2, then won 7-4 against Minneapolis Megan Stopera and 4-2 against Alberta's Kayla Skrlik. MacMillan won 8-3 against North Dakota's Christine McMakin in their final qualifying round match. In the semi-final, they defeated Nova Scotia's Christina Black 6-5. This set up a match with Manitoba's Kate Cameron in the final. Macmillan was forced to play with three players, as skip Kayla Macmillan was forced to catch a flight at the airport. This forced Tran into the skip position. Cameron started with the hammer, winning the opening draw to the button. After a blank in the first end, Macmillan put lots of pressure on Cameron, forcing her to try a draw side button for her single. Coming up wide, it resulted in a steal of two for Macmillan. Cameron responded in the third end, making a draw to the paint for their deuce. Tran was forced to draw to the button for their single point in the fourth end. Macmillan broke the score open in the fifth end after Cameron failed to make a tap to the button against three Macmillan counters, taking the lead 6-2. Cameron was forced to their single in the sixth, making an open hit and stick. It was handshakes in the seventh after Macmillan added one more, winning the game 7-3. On the men's side, Chaska's Chase Sinnett defeated Eau Claire's Caden Hebert 6-3 in the final. Macmillan has a big season ahead, with the 2025 Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials. Their next event will be in Oakville, Ontario, at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard next weekend. |
A five at the opening end of their first-ever match together in a major international competition sent Katie McMillan and Angus Bryce on their way to a dominant victory over the USA at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Championships in Geneva.
