CurlingZone: Plett makes history with Canadian Junior women's title

Team Myla Plett (Photo: Curling Canada) from the Airdrie and Sherwood Park Curling Clubs is the first team to ever capture the New Holland Canadian Juniors and the Canadian U18 Curling Championships titles in the same season.

By: Cameron Sallaj

The fairytale season for Team Myla Plett continued at the Arena Jacques Laperriere and Club de Curling Noranda in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The Alberta rink captured their second Canadian championship of the season and third overall by going through the event with a perfect 10-0 record, proving to be the class of the field.

"I didn't actually know that so that's really unbelievable," said Plett after the historic victory. "It's a big honour for us. We worked really hard for it."

Plett and her teammates Alyssa Nedohin, Chloe Fediuk, and Allie Iskiw have had a busy couple of months, beginning at the Canadian U18 Curling Championships in Timmins, Ontario. There, the team recorded a 9-0 record en route to capturing the gold medal, defeating New Brunswick 2's Melodie Forsythe 10-1 in the championship game.

A week later, the team was off to Summerside, Prince Edward Island to compete in the Canada Winter Games. After a 4-1 round robin record, they battled through the quarterfinals and semifinals to reach another national final where they took on Nova Scotia's Sophie Blades, their only loss in the round robin. Blades would be successful again in the championship game, downing Plett 9-5 thanks to a steal of three in the sixth end.

At the Canadian Juniors in Rouyn-Noranda, Plett dominated the field. Her 8-0 record through the round robin was unmatched by any of the other seventeen women's rinks, giving her team a bye into the semifinals. There, they cruised to an 11-3 victory over Ontario's Tori Zemmelink to qualify for their fourth national final against Newfoundland and Labrador's Mackenzie Mitchell.

"The girls are always trying to keep my focus up," said Plett of her teammates. "After a long week, it's really hard to pay attention to the game. Your brain is a bit frazzled from all the games. The team really helps with keeping each other up and keeping focused."

The Alberta team continued their dominance into the gold medal game, opening up a 7-1 lead after just four ends. Mitchell would get two back in the fifth end to tighten the score 7-3.

The sixth end saw Newfoundland and Labrador put pressure on the Alberta rink for the first time. Facing four on her last rock, Myla Plett maintained control for her team with a high pressure hit-and-stick for a single point. They eventually went on to a 10-4 win, with Mitchell conceding after eight ends of play.

Plett: "It's unbelievable. We just played really well all week. We're super excited to represent Canada. It's a dream come true for all of us."

Plett, Nedohin, Fediuk, Iskiw, and coach Blair Lenton will now switch out the Alberta blue and yellow for Canada's red and white as they prepare to represent the country at the 2024 World Junior B Curling Championship from December 8-19 in Lohja, Finland. The team will need to have a podium finish to qualify for the 2024 World Junior Curling Championships, scheduled for February 17-24.

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