Calgary's Kayla Skrlik looks to continue their success this week at the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic. Following their runner-up finish at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, Skrlik, with third Margot Flemming, second Ashton Skrlik and lead Geri-Lynn Ramsay, head to Cornwall for their third stop on their season-opening road trip. The team opened their season with another runner-up finish at the Icebreaker in Morris, Manitoba over Labour Day weekend. Following their breakthrough in winning the Alberta Scotties in 2023, Skrlik again reached the final of the Alberta Scotties, though this time it was Selena Sturmay taking the title. The team made some changes over the summer. The team swapped the order of their front end, trying to adjust to the skillsets needed at the top of the game. Geri-Lynn Ramsay now throws lead stones while continuing to support Skrlik in the house, while sister Ashton will throw second stones this season. "We spent a lot of time in August prepping for the season, " said Kayla Skrlik. "We drove up to Edmonton throughout the last two weeks of August, getting our technical in line and working through some of our new team dynamics." Second place at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard generated 33 world ranking points for Skrlik, moving them to 22nd on the World Curling Team Rankings, up from 27th the weekend prior. With teams able to count their two best events through the season's opening months, another high-point counter would put Skrlik within reach of the Top 15, with the current deficit being 22 points behind 15th-ranked Delaney Strouse of the United States. "Our early success is a testament to how much work they've put in the off-season and beginning weeks of training before we hit the road." The Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton has early ice. As the National Training Centre for Curling Canada, it offers competitive teams the chance to get access to early ice." A lineup change saw third Brittany Tran depart to join Ashley Thevenot at third in Saskatoon, opening the door to add Margot Flemming to the lineup after Kerry Galusha's Yellowknife-based team disbanded. "Margot [Flemming] has fit into our team seamlessly. She brings a sense of fun to our game and wisdom from her previous experiences with Team Galusha." "I'm the only one on the team playing in a comfortable and familiar position right now." Game 1: Skrlik vs MacMillan Skrlik opens play today at 5 pm Eastern Time (ET) against Victoria's Kayla MacMillan, returning to the ice on Thursday for two games, first at 8 am for game two against Toronto's Carly Howard and then again at 2 pm against Woodstock's Hollie Duncan, a game that will be available on television across COGECO's YourTV network. Skrlik faces Switzerland's Xenia Schwaller at 8 am on Friday, a Stu Sells Oakville Tankard Final rematch won 7-6 by Swiss rink. Women's quarterfinals go at 8 pm on Saturday, with the championship final at Noon on Sunday. In addition to COGECO's coverage of feature sheet 5, fixed view cameras will be in place to independently stream every sheet, with links tied to the red play button on CurlingZone's live scoreboard to access each game. "We wanted to play more events than last season before we hit the ice for PointsBet. Ontario allowed us to do that with two events back to back in early September. We've loved our time here and plan to return next season!" |