Vernon’s father-daughter duo of Jim and Jaelyn Cotter did not advance to the playoffs at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Saskatoon.
The Cotters finished 4-3, good for fourth place in their eight-team preliminary round pool, but not good enough to be one of the 12 teams advancing to the playoffs.
The B.C. champs finished the preliminary round with a 6-4 loss to Ontario’s Lisa Weagle and John Epping and a 7-6 win over Saskatchewan veterans Stefanie Lawton and Steve Laycock.
Alberta’s Jocelyn Peterman and Newfoundland/Labrador’s Brett Gallant – who beat the Cotters 10-3 in the round-robin – won the Canadian championship with a 12-8 win over Edmonton’s Laura Crocker and Gallant’s teammate on the Brad Gushue rink, Geoff Walker.
Crocker and Walker had been undefeated heading into the championship game.
It’s the second silver medal of the spring for Walker as the Gushue rink lost the Tim Hortons Brier final to Kevin Koe of Alberta.
Peterman and Gallant will represent Canada at the 2016 World Mixed Doubles Championships April 16-23 in Karlstad, Sweden.
The Worlds will be the first qualifying event to determine the seven countries that join the host South Korean team in the field of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeonChang, South Korea, where mixed doubles will make its debut as an Olympic medal sport.
Former Vernon curler Dave Stephenson was an inch away from playing for a Canadian Senior Mens title in Digby, NS.
Stephenson, who throws third stones for Bob Ursel’s B.C. championship rink out of Kelowna, and his mates fell 6-5 to Ontario’s Bryan Cochrane in a Saturday semifinal.
Ursel, who had the hammer in the final end, saw his final stone on a tough double attempt come up half an inch short, allowing Cochrane to steal the winning point.
Cochrane, whose only loss in the event was a playoff-round, 8-2 setback to Ursel, rallied from 5-3 down after six ends.
Cochrane, from Russell, Ont., defeated Randy Neufeld of La Salle, Man. 6-3 for the Canadian championship.
Alan O’Leary of Dartmouth, NS defeated Ursel 7-5 in the bronze medal match.
Neufeld knocked off O’Leary 11-5 in the other semi.
Veteran curler and hometown favourite Colleen Jones of Halifax won the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship in Digby with a 5-2 win over Saskatoon’s Sherry Anderson.
Cochrane and Jones will represent Canada at next year’s World Senior Curling Championships, April 22-29, at the new Crossings Ice Complex in Lethbridge.