National champ Cormack adds BC provincial title

Gary Cormack skip, Frank LaBounty 3rd, Vince Miele 2nd, Alison Duddy lead
[photo - Matt Coxford]
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Gary Cormack had a second chance at a national title last year, when his second place at the 2010 BC Provincials allowed him to skip the Host Team to last season's national title.

This year, he retained Vince Miele at second, and added 3rd Frank LaBounty and lead Alison Duddy from last year's BC championship side, hoping to get to the Edmonton Nationals in March through the front door.

After two wins in round robin play at the 2011 BC Provincial Championships in Kimberley his team went straight through to this afternoon's final, though not against their expected opponent. Bob Mcdonald, playing with just Bill Lindstrom and Samantha Siu as 3rd Sonja Gaudet was unable to travel, upset the multi-medalled Armstrong team in the semi-final, and looked to continue an extraordinary run into the final.

They started well, with Cormack facing four with his last stone on the 1st end, and only able to limit the damage, giving up a single. But Cormack quickly regrouped, scoring 2 in the 2nd and then posting steals of 2 in the 3rd and 4th ends for a comfortable 6-1 lead at the break.

Mcdonald fought back with a single, and a steal of a point to pull within 3 after 6 ends, but Cormack's 2 in the 7th allowed him to run Mconald out of stones, and claim his first national title since 2006 when he was a member of Team Canada.

Cormack *  0 2 2 2 0 0 2 X - 8
Mcdonald   1 0 0 0 1 1 0 X - 3

You can read a full report by Matt Coxford of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman HERE.

The 2011 Nationals are scheduled for March 20-27 at the Jasper Place CC in Edmonton, Alberta.

Whitney Warren skips to BC provincial title

Whitney Warren [photo - Ian Readey]

Prince George's Whitney Warren, one of only two players to have appeared in every National Championship, will this year skip the defending national champions on home ice. His team of Frank LaBounty (3rd), Gerry Austgarden and rookie lead Allison Duddy beat Gary Cormack 7-1 in the final of the three team championship.

Cormack, with Rich Green, Vince Miele and Corrine Jensen blanked the first three ends before taking their single point at the half-time break. Warren scored two in the fifth, stole one in the sixth and made it handshake time with a steal of four in the seventh.

Both teams will compete in Kelowna at the Nationals, March 15-21, with Cormack's team playing as BC Hosts to round out a ten team field.

It is worth noting that both Warren and LaBounty are quads who use power chairs. They have also won gold at the previous three national championships, twice with Jim Armstrong at skip and in 2007 with Darryl Neighbour skipping.

Full provincial championship details HERE