SAULT STE. MARIE—Both Manitoulin Special Olympics (MSO) curling rinks won gold medals for being in first place in their division at a national qualifying event this past Saturday.
“Both our teams played fabulous and won gold medals,” said Janet Anning, one of the MSO curling coaches and coordinator of MSO. “Both teams won all their games, three each.”
The MSO A division gold medal winning rink included Regan Millsap, Rebecca Strain, Andrew Splawnyk, Randy Corbiere and coaches Ellen Holroyd and Heather Strain.
In the C division the MSO rink was made up of Tyler Madahbee, Dylan Danville, Austin Recollet, William Leclaire and Dayne Tipper with coaches Janet Anning and Katherine Tipper.
Special Olympics Ontario hosted the Hometown Games Conference Curling Championships in Sault Ste. Marie.
A total of eight teams, two each from Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Thunder Bay and Manitoulin took part. “It was a wonderful event, well run, and the games, except for maybe one, were really close nailbiters,” said Ms. Anning. “We had a great time, were treated very well and our teams were good ambassadors for Manitoulin Island.”
“We must also thank our coaches that couldn’t be there; Marc Lefebvre and Heather Niven for all their assistance and the Providence Bay Curling Club for all their support,” said Ms. Anning.
“The National Games will take place in Calgary, Alberta in February 2024,” said Ms. Anning. “It is not automatic that our teams will be selected for the games. We don’t know at this point if they will be among those selected for the nationals.”
