Juniors Do Some Damage

19/04/2009 04:20

Homan rink wins three straight

They look like they should be back home in Ottawa at high school -- heck, maybe even junior high.

In fact, the rest of the Grey Power Players' Championship field wishes they were back at home in school, just so they wouldn't have to face them.

To say Rachel Homan's crew is young and fearless would be a gross understatement.

Homan's lead, Lynn Kreviazuk, is a high school student and will only turn 18 on May 2. The rest of the crew are fresh-faced 20-year-old university students quickly making a name for themselves on the World Curling Tour.

Skip Homan just turned 20 on April 5, third Emma Miskew celebrated her birthday on Valentine's Day and second Alison Kreviazuk is the old lady of the bunch, hitting the big two-oh last September.

"They make shots and they're not afraid to have rocks in play, and know what to do with them," said Regina skip Amber Holland, whose quick and painful 7-2 loss in five ends to Homan eliminated her from this Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event. Homan pounced on the defending champion, scoring five in a critical second end.

Homan came back and defeated Crystal Webster of Calgary 7-4 in the afternoon draw to qualify for quarter-finals. It was a third straight win after starting with back-to-back losses.

"We've beaten some of these teams for a while now and I think they

respect us more for that; at least I hope they do," said Homan, whose rink finished second at the Canadian junior championships this year. Outside of Alison Kreviazuk, all are eligible for junior next year as well.

But that's just scratching the surface.

The Homan rink is 10th on the World Curling Tour money list with $24,200 in earnings, ahead of Edmonton's Cathy King ($20,300) and just behind Kelowna's Kelly Scott ($24,500).

"It's always a good time with the ladies and the ice is usually really good, better than if you're playing a junior spiel," said Homan, whose rink was named the WCT rookie team of the year on Thursday.

More from the Edmonton Journal.

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

One thing about kids – it seems they have no nerves at all and they’re fearless.