Manitoba's Hayward is as good as gold – Winnipeg Free Press

Shaela Hayward's Carman Four won gold at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

Hayward, third Kira Krahn, second India Young and lead Riley Cox beat Quebec's Joliane Fortin 8-5 in the women's final.

Manitoba scored three goals in the first end and four in the third to take a 7-2 lead.

“We beat Quebec in the round robin, so we knew we had a shot, but we just had to hang in there,” Hayward said by phone. “I woke up (Saturday) morning and I was a little nervous. I was a bit nervous, so I had to calm myself down a bit and play the game I love…

“This is our biggest victory. I'm just proud. I can't believe we just did it.”

Hayward's team, all four of whom are Grade 12s at Carman College, advanced to the national finals Friday night after defeating Nova Scotia's Rebecca Regan 4-2 in the semifinals.

Quebec threatened to close the gap in the fourth end on Saturday, but Manitoba escaped with little loss.

“We got the lead early, which was great, but I think they had four or five hits in the fourth,” said Heyward, who had Fortin blocking his double attempt and scoring just one run, leaving Manitoba up 7-3. edge.

“I thought, 'Oh my God, we got a break there.' They're a great team, but I put that rock in the worst possible places for him to double up.”

The team had a good run at the recent Manitoba Women's Championships in Morden, finishing 3-2 in the preliminary round, just short of advancing to the championship round.

The highlight of their Scottish experience was a 12-2 loss against two-time Olympic gold medalist Caitlin Lowes.

“The Scotties helped out a ton,” said Hayward, whose team went 4-2 in the nationals circuit before winning four straight playoffs. “Being in that environment, on the rink and with the crowd like that, it was a great experience for the event.

“Our goal was to get more experience out of Scotty and we did well. So we knew we were going to come out firing (at Ottawa), but I didn't know we could do it, but here we are.”

Hayward's foursome will also compete in their hometown Manitoba U21s later this month.

“I think we have a good chance to qualify for Canadians,” Hayward said. “We're going to go there and do our best. We'll play like we played here and see what happens.”