The Leader-Post du lieu suivant : Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 24

2 Sport The Leader-Post Regina, Saskatchewan Monday, February 6, 1984 ary is champ Davis, unfortunately, wasnt able to negotiate precisely the contact she was hoping for, and McGeary wound up with a steal of one. I had a shot at two. if I'd gotten a quarter of that front stone. Davis was to say later. I was heavy.

Davis's chance for a deuce on the ninth was foiled when McGeary doubled off a pair of enemy rocks in the side of the house. The two steals which had vaulted Davis into her early 2-0 lead both came as a result of McGeary being heavy with her draws. I had to make two to the four-foot, which isnt easy to do at that stage, McGeary said. Even though we got down early, it didn't bother us too much, because we werent making a lot of mistakes. McGeary moved into position to take a run at the championship by defeating Nancy Kerr of Regina 8-7 in the A final on Saturday.

McGeary struck for five on the third end to take a 6-1 lead, then weathered a determined rally by Kerr and Callie club supporters Kathy Fahlman, Debbie Ziola, and Wendy Leach. Davis earned the right to tussle with McGeary by beating Kerr 9-5 in the final Saturday night. Davis had eliminated the Lang foursome of Mary Jo Steve, Maureen Schmidt, Karen Dmuchowski, and Sonia Dmuchowski 8-7. By Nick Miliokas L-P Sports Writer SWIFT CURRENT Lori McGeary, a personable young lady who grew up in Moose Jaw and now makes her home in Saskatoon, had folks from northern and southern Saskatchewan alike rooting for her, and she disappointed no one. McGeary extended her amazing winning streak to 15 games, and in doing so captured the provincial women's curling championship.

McGeary and backers Gillian Thompson, Chris Gervais, and Allison Earl who did not lose even once through club, city, northern, and provincial playdowns will depart for Charlottetown at the end of the month as Saskatchewan's representatives In the Scott Tournament of Hearts national championship. Im relieved that its over, and of course Im relieved that we won, McGeary said moments after she had defeated Carol Davis of Saskatoon 4-2 in the A-B final Sunday. Its going to be a little while before it hits me, she added, but I can already tell you it feels great. Davis and supporters Sandra Schmirler, Heather MacMillan, and Laurie Secord had to beat the McGeary foursome twice yesterday, and there was a time early in the match when it did indeed appear as though a second game would be required to settle the issue. i Stahn takes A Event Mard time for Regina Davis swiped singles on the first and third ends to fashion a 2-6 lead, and since McGeary was struggling a bit with her draw weight, the prospects looked good for the underdogs.

McGeary hit for a single on the fourth, however, and then proceeded to steal singles on the fifth, seventh, and eighth to take a 4-2 lead. Davis was obliged to blank the ninth and go hunting for a timely deuce coming home. A pair of nosehits by her opponents on the 10th presented Davis with an opportunity to perhaps find shelter. Davis wrecked on a comer guard with her first, throw, however, and after McGeary had taken advantage of an offending counter in the front rings to deliver a dandy hit-and-roll behind cover in the four-foot, Davis was left no choice but to draw and hope for a miss. Davis planted her second throw fully in the back fours, but there was no protection and McGeary made no mistake with her takeout.

Should she care to replay the game in her mind, Davis would no doubt think back to the eighth and ninth ends, on both of which she had chances to count jwo. A series of freezes having created a cluster of five stones in the centre of the house on the eighth, Davis had an opportunity rattle the bunch, dislodge McGearys counter and claim the deuce. Gary Bryden Murray Rousay final was a two-point steal on the first end. Greg, who directs traffic for his brothers Jeff, Brad and Rod, tried to save the end with a quiet takeout, but he wicked the guard and somehow slipped between the two Bryden stones without disturbing either. We were very fortunate there, Bryden confessed.

You couldn't wick and slip through that hole one in 100 times, but he did and it cost him a deuce. The Montgomerys fared much better against Rogers later in the day. They moved in front 3-0 by stealing three straight singles, then maintained control the rest of the way. A key shot came in the sixth end when Montgomery, now leading only 3-2, deflated Rogers and his associates somewhat by drawing the button against three. In the other final, Brucker had control going into the ninth end, but surrendered a crucial steal of one to fall behind 3-2.

After Rousay had played a raise to the four-foot, Miliokas SWIFT CURRENT The Great Gretzky, you have heard an awful lot about. The Marvelous McGeary. perhaps not so much. But they do have something in common, aside from the fact that they both work their magic on sheets of articial ice. Between the two of them.

Wayne Gretzky and Lori McGeary have managed to keep the word streak dancing in the heads of sporting enthusiasts Gretzky tallying at least a point game after game after game in hockey rinks, McGeary piling victory upon victory upon victory in curling clubs. But, while Gretzky's streak has come to a halt, McGearys is still intact. The three victories she strung together en route to the provincial women's curling championship on the weekend brings McGearys total to an amazing 15 straight. She and companions Gillian Thompson, Chris Gervais, and Allison Earl have glided through club, city, northern, and provincial playdowns without tasting defeat even once, and they will now take The Streak to Charlottetown. It took three wins to qualify through the A side of club downs at the Sutherland, five to come out of the A side in Saskatoon city playdowns, four to capture the A event at northern provincials, and three more to claim the ultimate victory at the provincial showdown.

When The Streak came up in conversation during post-game celebrations at the Stockade yesterday afternoon, McGeary handled it with a touch of humility and a good deal of diplomacy as well. "Well. she said, "you have to remember that some of the games we won, we could just as easily have lost. There were a few times there when it was touch and go. More than a few times, in fact.

But weve been quite consistent, and I think that's the main reason weve been able to keep winning. "We've remained consistent and persistent, said Gervais. "Thats probably the best way to sum it up. Of course, you also need a little bit of luck to go undefeated. And we've had to come from behind a few times.

It hasn't been easy. Had you asked her before the start of club playdowns what the chances might be of winning the provincial championship without losing even once, Gervais would likely have dismissed the question as one that was too foolhardy to deserve a serious response. Yesterday-, however, she was willing to risk an answer. Not very good, not very good at all, she said with a broad grin. Not in the type of competition were involved in, anyway.

Weve had some awfully close games, all the way through, said Thompson. It's worth it, though. Upset stomachs. Nerves. Ive been a little queasy in the tummy because of the butterflies ever since we started.

"But, like I say, its worth the price, if you win. It should be noted, however, that the thought of losing did occur to McGeary and friends yesterday. In fact, they even went as far as to discuss the possibility prior to the A-B final against fellow Saskatonian and archrival Carol Davis. Even though she had to beat us twice, we decided wed go after them in the first game, said Thompson. But.

we also talked about the possibility of losing, just in case they did force us to a second game. We had to talk about it, I think, to avoid the downer of coming off a loss. If we had to play a second game, we wanted to be in the right frame of mind for it. They need not have worried, as it turned out. Complete results of women's provincial, men southern and men's northern playdowns are In The Sports Scoreboard.

i)mss Linns ltd 522 1313 (m Mnbach ESTEVAN It was Mr. Clean from the Caledonian Curling Club against the hard-talking, burly giant from Assiniboia known as The Stomper, and if you guessed that the former was the people's choice, you guessed wrong. When Garry Stahn, a man who would not look out of place in the world of Big Time Wrestling, dispatched gentle Gary Bryden 6-5 Saturday night in the A-side final of men's southern playdowns, mighty applause and piercing screams of delight rattled window panes at the rink and presumably set dogs down on Main Street to howling. It wasnt that the crowd held anything against Bryden, the man who had been clearly favored to win the game and thus take the most direct route into the provincial championship. No, it was simply that Bryden's foe was from Assiniboia, and when you leave Assiniboia to do battle, you go not alone.

The same group that followed Bob Ellert to Weyburn, then to Estevan, then to Halifax in 1981, was upstairs at the Estevan Curling Club on Saturday night, and when The Stomper won, it was time to resume the celebration that had been reluctantly abandoned three years earlier. They do make a difference, The Stomper said after stealing away from the swarming crowd for a party he would soon rejoin for a party that would greet the dawn. Like last night, they really helped our confidence, they kept saying we could win and stuff like that. In 1981, Stomper Stahn had been among Ellert's most vocal supporters. He travelled with the support party to the Brier in Halifax and made a point of chastising any member of the media who had dared label Ellert a darkhorse.

Apparently, around Assiniboia dar-khorses aren't held in high regard. Ellert and his rink began forging a streak that would carry them into the playoffs, Stahn took- delight in bellowing down from the bleachers that the darkhorse" was running pretty well. This past weekend, it was Stahn who was the darkhorse, and like Ellert before him, he ran well. When Stahn and assistants Bruce and Allan Batty and Tim Hysiuk entered the lobby after their well-earned win over Bryden, one of the first people to greet them was Ellert, who clenched his fist, thrust his arm toward the heavens and yelled, All right! These are the guys who knocked us out back at the club Ellert later informed. They beat us twice.

He was asked if The Stomper and his men had made as many big shots in those games as they made against Bryden. No, Ellert said, they made them all. Stahn and Ellert are former teammates. Ellert played for Stahn in the 1977 and 1978 southern playdowns. "We didnt win a game, Stahn said.

They soon went their separate ways, and now theyre both winners. Bob do well like that in 1981, it helped, Stahn said. You could see it was possible. And I learned quite a bit from him, too, just watching the way he played to get to the Brier, and then how he played once he was there. And when we beat him in our first game in playdowns at the club this year, that helped, too.

It helped our confidence. Stahn did, in fact, follow a scrpit not unlike the one Ellert used to win the provincial title here three years ago. The team made most of the routine shots, and a high percentage of the difficult ones. When one man missed, the next man would come through with a double or a raise or a hit and roll. This is how it always is with teams that win.

'We just wanted to curl well, thats all, Stahn said. "We knew that if we curled like we did in the region, we could win a few games. But this? We didn't even think about coming through the A event. The Stomper, it turns out, was destinys child all along. Mr.

Clean didn't stand a chance. wanted after hitting the first stone, but just slid by the second Trofimenkoff stone. Garry Stahn Greg Montgomery Brucker tried an angle-raise takeout and missed by just a smidgen. On the 10th end, Brucker again tried a fancy shot that just barely failed to work. He was counting one in the four-foot, but he needed two to win.

The only possibility was to fire a missile down the flanks and try to wick in off a stone near the boards. Again, he came within a fraction of an inch of making it. Rousay, a 31-year pharmacist who was making his first appearance in southern playdowns, thought it might be lights out when Brucker went to play the raise takeout in the ninth end. He could see the possibility of Brucker coming out of it with three. Of course, Rousay and assistants Howard.

Harder, Darcy Elder and Dale Opheim had to do some finger crossing back in the semi-finals, too. They trailed Neil McBain of Moose Jaw 6-4 coming home, but then pounced for three. 1 guess," said the beaming pharmacist, you could say it was a case of first time lucky." By Arnle Tlefenbach L-P Sports Writer ESTEVAN Last week the Association of Regina Curling Clubs circulated forms to competitive curlers in town, asking for suggestions as to how the entire playdown structure might be improved. For a certainty it was suggested by some that a way should be found to get more Regina teams into southern mens playdowns. Poor timing.

Even as some of the forms were still being completed, three of Regina's most esteemed rinks were biting the dust in southern playdowns at the Estevan Curling Club. Of the citys four representatives, only Gary Bryden survived to fight another day and try to bring Regina its first provincial championship since 1977. Bryden, who curls out of the Callie and in the company of Dale Graham, Wilf Foss and Gerry Zimmer, was ambushed by Garry (The Stomper) Stahn of Assiniboia in the A-event final Saturday night, but he rebounded to take the title on Sunday at the expense of Moose Jaws Greg Montgomery, 5-3. In the finals Sunday evening, the Montgomery brothers stoleiheir way to a 6-3 win over Les Rogers of the Highland club in Regina, and Murray Rousay of Coronach drew for one in overtime to defeat Ron Brucker of the Callie 4-3. Reginas other representative, Garry Gelowitz of the Callie, was eliminated 7-3 by Rogers in the C-side semi-finals.

Of the fodr rinks that will represent the south in the provincial championship this week in Melfort, certainly none found triumph more gratifying than Stahn and sidekicks Bruce and Allan Batty and Tim Hysiuk. Almost immediately after the final rock had come to rest, they were surrounded by a jublilant throng of supporters from back home and ushered off to the celebration. Bryden had a miserable time of it against Stahn in the A final. He lost his draw weight in the early going, and before he found it hed given up a steal of three, a steal of one, and missed a chance for a deuce. These miscues left Bryden in arrears 5-3 after five ends, and although he played well after that, Stahn and his rink came through with a series of big shots to hold him at bay.

The key for Bryden in his 5-3 win over the Montgomery boys in the LeaderPost Northern reps decided tempt to count two and retake the lead. On the takeout attempt, Lyell got the inside roll he ATTENTION! Business people of Regina and area QSGui E3 ESlGO WGalJsmeilinHBS, Wayne Trofimenkoff of Veregin defeated Stan Lyell of Saskatoon 6-4 to capture the A Event championship at the mens northern curling playdowns in Saskatoon over the weekend. Lyell later earned a berth in the provincial playdowns with a 6-3 decision over former world champion Rick Folk of Saskatoon in the Event final. Folk recovered to defeat Rob Ewen of Jansen 7-4 in the finals while Eugene Hritz.uk of Saskatoon doubled John Moulding of Saskatoon 8-4 to earn the other spot out of the Event. The turning point of the game came in the fifth end, when Trofimenkoff stole a point to take a 4-2 lead.

With Trofimenkoff lying one, and Lyell with iast rock, Lyell could have drawn to the lace of the Trofimenkoff stone in the four-foot ring and count a point of his own. But he elected to try a tough double takeout in an at call Fast As Flite for the assured delivery of all your urgent shipments at down-to earth prices. jar -V I Past as Him He means business for you in 1984 Dont miss it! A Division ol Rpimnr In Regina, Call 1.