Craig and Karen Lepine both emerged triumphant from a battle this weekend.
The husband and wife from Langley were both part of winning teams in the B.C. seniors men’s and women’s curling championships, their team each earning a spot at the nationals in Ontario in late March.
Karen Lepine was part of the women’s winning team featuring skip Lynne Noble, as well as Penny Shantz, and Colleen Robson. They’re coached by seven-time BC men’s champion Jim Cotter. The team represented the Cloverdale, Comox, Langley, Parksville and Qualicum curling clubs.
They did battle in Enderby and went through the entire round-robin competition undefeated 7-0, securing their crown when they triumphed over Sheilla Cowan’s team – from Cloverdale and New Westminster – by the score of 8-5 in the finals.
The winning rink featured a strong lineup with Karen Lepine, now becoming a three-time BC senior’s champion. Shantz helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, when curling made its Games debut as a demonstration sport. This was Robson’s second-straight seniors’ victory, and Lepine is the 2015 national masters champion.
But Karen Lepine isn’t the only Langleyite returning home with a gold at the provincials this past weekend.
The men’s championships were held simultaneously in Duncan, where her hubby and crew emerged triumphant on the ice.
On the men’s end of things
In senior men’s play, Craig Lepine’s crew - also featuring Stan Walker, Craig McLeod and Mike Pelech – repeated a 2017 victory by defeating Wes Craig at his home club by a 7-5 score, thanks to a four-ender in the seventh.
Lepine was 7-2 during the round-robin portion of the event, one loss coming in a 4-3 setback to Mark Longworth of Vernon and the other against the Craig team, who beat them 5-4. The Lepine men’s team represented curling clubs in Cloverdale, Langley, Penticton, and Vancouver.
Both the Noble and Lepine rinks will now travel to the 2018 Everest Canadian senior men’s and women’s curling championships in Stratford, Ont., slated from March 24 to 29. The seniors category is for the 50-plus age group.
In the meantime, the Lepines are also competing in the BC Masters championships coming up next week in Creston. This is the competition for curlers ages 60 and older.
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