Alberta's Sherrard, New Brunswick's Burgess capture gold at Canadian Club Championships
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The 2023 Canadian club curling champions were crowned Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.
Alberta's Team Dan Sherrard won the men's division at the Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships after defeating Saskatchewan's Team Mitch Criton in the final, 7-2.
This was Sherrard's third gold medal at the Canadian Club Championship and first since 2013.
“The third one was a long time coming,” Sherrard told Curling Canada. “We’ve worked very hard just to be at this event. We’ve tried every single year we could, so, to get here was incredible for us and this is just on another level.”
Alberta, featuring Sherrard at skip, Brandon Klassen at third and Kyle Reynolds at lead, won all 10 of their games during the week-long event to take home the title.
Second Shawn Donnelly was unable to attend the event, meaning Alberta played as a three-person team.
“We found out that we were going to be a three-man team, and tried to get a spare and it didn’t’ work out,” said Sherrard. “We’ve known each other a long time and said, ‘You know what, if anyone is going to be able to try to make this work, then let’s see if it can be us.’”
Quebec's Team David Maheux earned the bronze medal after a 7-5 victory over Shea Steele of Nova Scotia.
On the women's side of the draw, New Brunswick's Team Abby Burgess scored a single in the eighth end to get by Ontario's Team Lindsay Thorne, 8-7, in the championship game.
New Brunswick, featuring Burgess at skip, Brooke Tracy at third, Samantha Crook at second and Hannah Williams at lead, posted an overall 8-2 record.
“We put in a lot of hard work and the girls really showed up today,” said Burgess. “It could have gone either way. Ontario played amazing. We showed up and I just felt like the momentum was on our side the entire game and we just never gave up.”
New Brunswick also won the women's title last year with Shaelynn Park skipping the team in 2022.
British Columbia's Team Carley Sandwith-Craig defeated Team Tanya Phillips of Nova Scotia in the bronze medal match by a score of 9-3.