YORKTON – The North East Saskatchewan Ladies Bowling Team qualified for Nationals at the Great Western Open Provincials held March 28-30 in Saskatoon.
The team will be be representing Saskatchewan at the Canadian 5-pin Bowling Association Nationals in Ottawa, Ont. from May 28-June 1, 2024.
The Ladies team representing Saskatchewan is Jamie Dufault (Humboldt), Myrna Ruthven (Humboldt), Sharla Schrader (Yorkton), Theresa McKenzie (Yorkton), Brittany Schaefer (Esterhazy) and Holly Stratulat (Humboldt). The team will be coached by Wanda Sweatman (Wadena).
Each bowler qualified for a spot on the Provincial team at the end of January at the North East Zone qualifier in Yorkton. The top six ladies from this tournament earned a spot on the Provincial team, with the top three ladies also competing at provincials in an individual singles competition. The top female bowler from this competition was Jamie Dufault who averaged 223 in 18 games. Followed by Myrna Ruthven with a 220 average and Sharla Schrader with a 216 average.
The Great Canadian Western Open Provincials got underway March 28 in Saskatoon with the Singles competition. After 10 games, Sharla Schrader finished in 4th spot with an average of 235 moving her to the stepladder playoffs March 30.
Thursday evening saw the team competition begin. Each team had to play off against the other zones three times during the team competition competing for points for both team play and individual play. Team North East competed against zones from Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and the South. Team play continued all day Friday and Saturday morning with Team North East dominating the competition. At the end of the round robin Team North East sat in first place with 64 out of 96 points.
The tournament concluded Saturday afternoon with both playoffs for Singles and Team. Playoffs were completed as a stepladder event where the top 5 Singles and the top three Teams competed. One game at each step was played with the winner continuing to climb the stepladder hoping to make it to compete against the top qualifying individual/team from the round robin. At the top of the stepladder you would need to beat the top individual/team twice to be crowned Provincial Champion(s).
Sharla Schrader started in 4th out of the top 5 ladies position in the Singles Competition. 4th and 5th played off with Sharla Schrader coming on top and advancing to play the 3rd place seeded player. She continued to have much success handily beating the 3rd place seed to advance her to play the 2nd place seed. It proved to be a very tight game with both bowlers neck and neck right up until the last ball. The final score saw Sharla Schrader lose by a mere 3 pins to capture the Ladies Single Provincial Bronze Medal.
The Team playoff event followed the Singles event. It started with the 2nd and 3rd place teams playing off where the winner would play Team North East. Saskatoon prevailed over Regina sending them to compete for Gold against Team North East. Having finished first in the round robin, Team North East had the advantage as Team Saskatoon would have to beat them twice to be the Provincial Champions. Team North East was strong for the entire tournament and this final game proved to be no different. North East beat Team Saskatoon to become the Ladies Provincial Champions.
The Provincial Championships have been held since 1974 and no Ladies team from the North East zone has ever made it to Nationals in those 50 years.
