Senior curlers from Bashaw and Ponoka were proud to return home from the 2015 55 Plus Alberta Senior Games with gold medals around their necks.
The games were held in Lethbridge Feb. 19 to 22 with the guys making it all the way to the finals against Calgary, explained skip John Olson. “It was a very tight game.”
His team, comprised of lead, Warren Bloomquist; second, Larry Thompson and from Bashaw, third, Stanley Carlson, played better than average over the course of the weekend, most especially in the gold medal game.
For the first three ends, the Ponoka/Bashaw team was neck and neck with Calgary with no hopes of anyone taking a big lead.
“What saved us was a pick from the other team,” explained Olson.
He said one of Calgary’s rocks hit something on the ice as it drew into the house that changed its direction and they were able to go ahead by two points. “It was an excellent game otherwise,” said Olson.
The points might have been tied at the end of the game had it not been for that pick. Having the hammer - last rock - helped the boys from Ponoka/Bashaw have some control over the outcome.
“We ran them out of rocks,” said Olson.
He says they were confident they had a good chance at a medal and winning gold was the icing on the cake. The team competed at Winter Games two years ago but Olson said they were more nervous the first time around and they came in fifth overall. This year was different as they had more experience.
Olson plays in Ponoka, at Calumet and in Lacombe.