Provincial curling dreams came true for an Okotokian this week.
Okotoks skip Alena Yurko and her team navigated a tough field of contenders to take home the Alberta Optimist U18 Girls Provincial Curling Championship Monday afternoon in Leduc and secure a spot at the Canadian finals.
“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of,” said Yurko, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity Academy. “So, it’s exciting to finally achieve that and to beat the best teams in the province is pretty cool.”
Team Yurko, which features Reese Morison at third, Abigail Mielke at second and Kendra Koch at lead, posted a 5-2 record to earn one of four playoff berths at provincials.
“Our motto is always to have fun first and I think that really helped,” Yurko said. “Even when we would get down in a game, we just kept our mood up and made a comeback.”
In the 3–4-page playoff game, Yurko eliminated the defending champion and top squad on the Alberta U18 Junior Curling Tour Team DeSchiffart out of Lacombe by a 5-3 count.
From there, Yurko advanced to an all-Okotoks semifinal against Team Lila Koe, an Okotoks Curling Club squad featuring Okotokians Claire Corneillie at third and Kaycee Johnston at second.
After a seesaw start to the contest, Team Yurko gathered steam with eight points over the final four ends in earning a 9-2 triumph.
“It’s a bit stressful because we hadn’t beat them the entire season and lost to them earlier in provincials,” the skip added. “We were a bit worried, but went out there and played our best game.”
In the final, the Okotoks skip jumped out to an early lead with a four-ender in the third and a steal of one in the sixth on a draw to take a 6-2 advantage.
Lacombe’s Team Abby Desormeau rallied with three in the seventh, teeing up a final end with Yurko clinging to a narrow one-point advantage. In the eighth, her first throw drew to shot stone and a missed hit and stick by Desormeau meant the teams shook hands without the Okotokian taking her last shot.
“There wasn’t a whole ton of pressure on it considering two teams get to go to nationals, but we wanted the provincial title,” Yurko said. “The end where we did give up three, I made kind of a risky decision and that’s why that happened, but we kept our mood up throughout.”
Yurko has competed on the provincial stage, including at the Alberta Winter Games, but this will be her first national experience.
“It means so much,” she said. “It’s amazing to get to represent Alberta at a national event, especially being Alberta 1. I’m excited to meet all of the teams, considering I don’t know anything of them so it will be super cool to play some new competition.”
A 10-year member of the Okotoks Junior Curling Academy, Yurko tipped her cap to the impact the local club, including coaches Mike Libbus and Kristine Campbell, has made on her development.
“It’s a huge thank you to the Okotoks Curling Club,” she said. “I kind of grew up there and without (that time) I wouldn’t be here today.”
The 2025 Canadian U18 Curling Championships run Feb. 16-22 at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon. The event features 21 qualifying male and female teams.
For more information, go to curling.ca.
