PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Saskatchewan has a new women’s curling champion. Jolene Campbell beat Stefanie Lawton 7-4 in the final of the 2016 Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts to claim her first provincial women’s championship.
Campbell, who plays out of the Highland Curling Club in Regina, won a junior title in 2002, and played in three straight national championships from 2010 to 2012 as an alternate on Amber Holland’s team, but this year’s win is her first as a skip at the women’s level.
The championship final started quietly, with Lawton taking a 1-0 lead after two ends. But in the third end Campbell scored three points then followed that up with a steal of two in the fourth end to seize control of the game.
Lawton scored a pair in the eighth end to get within two points, but that is the closest the Nutana Curling Club skip would get, as Campbell scored one in the ninth then ran Lawton out of rocks in the final end to finish things off.
Lawton was seeking her third straight provincial women’s title, and fifth overall. The loss to Campbell was her only defeat of the tournament.
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Campbell’s team includes lead Ashley Williamson, second Callan Hamon and third Ashley Howard, and is coached by Olympic gold medallist and two-time Brier and world champion Russ Howard.
The victory means Team Campbell will represent Saskatchewan at the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Grande Prairie, Alta. The national championship begins Feb. 20.
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