Not many curling teams can lose one of the top players in the country and keep on rolling.
That was the challenge facing Jennifer Jones and teammates Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias, and Lauren Lenentine heading into the 2023-24 campaign after Mackenzie Zacharias made the decision to step away from the sport during the off-season.
They played as a five-person unit last year and won the Manitoba provincials before falling short of the ultimate goal by losing 10-4 to Gimli’s Kerri Einarson in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final.
Andrew KLaver / Curling Canada files
Karlee Burgess (left) and Emily Zacharias sweep durng the 2023 Scotties Tournament in Kamloops, B.C.
Still, it was an incredible run, especially when you consider it was the first year together for Jones and the crew of twentysomethings. It was the type of run some people doubted they could make again without Mackenzie — who skipped Burgess, Emily, and Lenentine to world junior in gold in 2020 — holding down the fort at second.
MacKenzie’s younger sister Emily, a 22-year-old who shared lead duties with Lenentine in 2022-23, has taken over at second and has helped throw those doubts out the window.
They’re currently No. 2 in the Canadian Team Ranking System and are off to a 2-0 start at this week’s Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters in Saskatoon after knocking off Einarson 5-4 on Wednesday.
“It’s been different. I’ve basically curled with (MacKenzie) my whole life. It was such a fun, unique experience that we got to do together,” said Emily, who hails from Altona.
“As much I miss curling with her, I do think it’s been able to help me break out of my shell and become my own individual curler which has been really good for my development.”
The foursome has earned big points by winning the GSOC’S HearingLife Tour Challenge in October, reaching the finals of the Saville Shootout and Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic, and a trip to the semis at the KIOTI National.
“Mack used to skip, so this was our lineup before Jen joined. So, although Mack was a great asset as a skip and when she played with us last year, these lineups are still familiar to use so we’ve been able to jump in right where we left off,” said Emily.
Their first win in Saskatoon this week was against another strong Manitoban in Kate Cameron. Jones will meet Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa at 8 p.m. Thursday and then Stefania Constantini of Italy at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
The Masters features the top 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams in the world. Both events are split into four pools of four. The top eight teams overall qualify for Saturday’s playoffs and the finals take place Sunday.
Wednesday’s showdown with Einarson was the first meeting between the two sides this season. They’re destined to cross paths again as both already have their 2024 Scotties spots secured.
Ontario’s Rachel Homan is No. 1 in the CTRS, followed by Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes at No. 3 and then Einarson in the four spot. Both Jones and Homan pre-qualified based on last year’s ranking. Einarson is in as the reigning, defending champ.
“We don’t really think about (losing nationals to Einarson) anymore, but coming so close, it’s definitely the goal. We all have that in the back of our heads,” said Burgess.
As strong as Jones and Co. have been, they haven’t been perfect. They were in Japan less than two weeks ago at the Karuizawa International and finished 0-3. Lawes was also there and won bronze.
“Honestly, just getting the opportunity to go to Japan was amazing. For the three of us, Lauren, Em, and I, it was our first time going to Japan,” said Burgess.
“Getting to travel, compete, and be with some of your closest friends and teammates is something we couldn’t pass up. It wasn’t our best week, but we had fun as a team.”
When they return home from Saskatoon, they’ll take a break for the holidays before hitting the ice for another Grand Slam — the Canadian Open (Jan. 16-21 in Red Deer, Alta.) After that, it’s a trip to Calgary for women’s nationals (Feb. 16-25).
Lawes and Cameron will be the two biggest names vying for the Buffalo jacket in Morden (Jan. 23-28).
“This year we’ve had a lot of higher expectations on ourselves just because we know what we’re capable of now. And we’ve been able to fine tune and reach some of that,” said Emily.
“Winning a slam and being able to qualify in some bigger events has been a good start so far.”
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Taylor Allen
Reporter
Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of…
