Kate Cameron claims Manitoba curling championship

For the first time in her career, Kate Cameron has skipped a team to a provincial championship.

It came down to the last rock in the Manitoba championship, as the New Bothwell curler had a relatively easy shot to clinch a spot at the national championship.

When she sat down in the hack for her final rock of the tournament, all she needed to do was eliminate a Beth Peterson stone in the four foot to nab a single point and win the championship.

Sweepers Allison Flaxey and Mackenzie Elias gave the rock a light clean to ensure nothing disastrous would happen, as Cameron clinched a berth in the Scotties.

“I think if you would’ve told me on Wednesday, before our first game that I would have a peel weight, hit it in anywhere to win this event I don’t know that I could have been happier,” Cameron told the Winnipeg Free Press after the event.

“(I) just stuck to my process and knew I just had to throw that one good and it was nice that there was a lot of room to make that.”

Cameron was able to rebound in the game, despite giving up the first big score of the championship. A steal in the fourth end gave the St Adolphe team the early advantage, only for Peterson to respond with a three-point effort in the fifth. Cameron was able to snag control of the game after Peterson was heavy on her final rock of the eighth end, conceding a steal of two.

While Peterson nabbed a pair of her own in the ninth, the all important hammer advantage in a tie game was Cameron’s, setting up her final shot. Peterson fell short in last year’s final to Kaitlyn Lawes.

“Unfortunately, a lot of deja vu,” an emotional Peterson said after the trophy presentation.

“We wanted to give Kate a harder shot to throw. You just want to make her throw her last one. Obviously they’re a really good team and they have a good chance of making one when they have hammer, but we just wanted to make her throw. I was just disappointed that we gave her a really easy shot.

Cameron was sympathetic to her opponents in the aftermath, especially considering Peterson’s rink featured former teammates.

“Everyone wants to win. Someone can’t. I’ve been in those girls’ shoes before, and I know how hard that is and how much that stings,” Cameron said.

“I’m really glad we pulled that out … just sometimes it sucks that someone’s on the losing end of that.”

Cameron has made a habit of appearing at the Scotties. This will be her eighth appearance at the tournament, and sixth consecutive, mostly playing as a third. She entered the tournament as the top seed, with Lawes and Gimli’s Kerri Einarson earning automatic qualification to nationals through pre-season rankings.

Cameron finished first in her pool, and earned a direct bye to the finals by dominating the championship pool as well.

Last year marked Cameron’s first appearance at the Scotties as a skip, and she didn’t disappoint, with the team fighting through illness to nab a bronze medal.

It was a different line-up for team Cameron at provincials, bringing in Alli Flaxey to replace Brianna Cullen, who was representing Canada at the world university games. Flaxey hadn’t played competitively this season, but was ready to step up and help some former teammates win.

“I think we were so fortunate to be able to pick up Alli,” Cameron said.

“I think she’s been crucial on this team all week. She’s called wicked line and made a bunch of shots, but I think most importantly she just fit in really easily.”

The 2025 Scotties are in Thunder Bay, with the first draw of the tournament taking place Feb. 14.

With files from Joshua Frey-Sam