With a teamful of freshman, the Lakeland College Rustlers ladies curling team turned in a bronze performance.
The Rustlers competed in Camrose, Alta. on the weekend in the Alberta College Athletics Conference Curling Championships and achieved not only team success, but personal awards as well.
Skip Ocean Smart, of Battleford was selected as the skip of the ACAC all-conference team after her great play all season. Her fellow curlers voted on the award.
The first year team of Smart, third Whitney Dagg, second Shelby
Nichol, lead Rheane Barker and alternate Casey Chalut beat the Red Deer
Queens 8-6 in the third meeting of the weekend between the two teams to earn the bronze medal.
The weekend started with a three-game round robin where Lakeland lost to Red
Deer and NAIT but beat the eventual gold medal champions Grand Prairie 8-0.
The team's 1-2 record put them in the 3 vs. 4 game where they beat Red Deer to advance to the semifinal.
The Rustlers lost 6-2 to NAIT in the semifinal and fell to the bronze medal game against Red Deer.
Along with mentoring his team to the bronze medal, Rustlers' curling coach Chris McQuid won the ACAC curling coach of the year and Colby Oracheski, who was the second on the mixed team, also took home some personal hardware.
Likely all four players on the ladies' team will be back next season, hoping to build on their bronze medal accomplishment.
