Jones, Homan named pre-qualified teams for 2024 Scotties
Curling Canada officially announced Tuesday that Ontario's Team Rachel Homan and Manitoba's Team Jennifer Jones have been named as the pre-qualified teams for the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary next February.
The governing body announced changes to its qualification process for the national championships as well as Olympics Trials at the end of this past season, including the addition of pre-qualified teams to the Scotties and Brier.
For the 2024 Scotties, taking place at WinSport Event Centre in Calgary from Feb. 16-25, the two highest unqualified teams on the 2022-23 Canadian Team Ranking System earned automatic spots.
Homan ranked second on the CTRS while Jones was third.
Manitoba's Team Kerri Einarson, winners of four straight Canadian curling women's championships, finished first and are already qualified for the Tournament of Hearts as the defending champs.
Team Homan, featuring vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes, won two Grand Slams last year and posted a 50-17 record.
Team Jones, featuring third Karlee Burgess and front-enders Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine, won the PointsBet Invitational in September and then claimed silver at the Scotties in February, finishing with a 68-35 record in their first year as a rink. Mackenzie Zacharias announced she was leaving Team Jones in April.
A fourth pre-qualified team will be determined via the top spot on the 2023-24 CTRS among non-qualified teams at the conclusion of the provincial and territorial playdowns.
Thanks to their pre-qualified status, Team Homan and Team Jones will not compete in next season's provincial playdowns.