Winter Universiade: Team Canada roundup & results

ERZURUM, Turkey (CIS) – Canadian athletes resumed competition in curling, alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country and women’s hockey on Wednesday at the 25th Winter Universiade.
 
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter
2011 Winter Universiade website: http://www.erzurum2011.gov.tr/english
 
In men’s curling, the team from Queen’s University picked up a pair of wins against South Korea and Turkey to finish the preliminary round with a 6-3 record, good for a tie for fourth place with the Czech Republic. The two teams will face off Thursday at 7 a.m. ET (2 p.m. local) in a tie-breaking duel for a spot in Friday’s semifinals.
 
Against South Korea, the Canadian rink led by Jon Beuk of Kingston, Ont., jumped to an early lead and was up 3-0 after four ends and 4-2 after six. The Koreans responded with a pair in the seventh to tie the contest, but Canada sealed the victory with singles in the eighth and ninth ends.
 
Later in the day against host Turkey, the Canadians cruised to an easy 7-2 win in seven ends. The game was put out of reach in the fifth end when the red-and-white stole three points.

After capturing Universiade gold in 2003 in Tarvisio, Italy, the Canadian men are coming off back-to-back sixth-place finishes in 2007 and 2009.
 
The 2011 Erzurum tournament was a different story for the Canadian women, who had claimed gold and silver, respectively, at the last two Universiades.
 
The University of Regina rink did end the preliminary round with a 9-3 win over Turkey, but a 4-5 mark left skip Brooklyn Lemon and her teammates out of medal contention.
 
In biathlon, the finals of the pursuit took place on Wednesday with the men competing on 12.5 km and the women 10 km.
 
Kathryn Stone was once again the top Canadian female, finishing in 29th position. The Camrose, Alta., native was lapped however and did not qualify for Saturday’s mass start.
 
On the men’s side, Jon Skinstad, also of Camrose, led the Canada with a time of 44:24.2. The performance was enough for 25th place overall and qualified him for the mass start.
 
In alpine skiing, the second and final run of the super combined slalom was contested and saw Kendall Brown of Toronto finish 20th overall with a combined time of 1:57.45, while Nicole Poleschuk of Winnipeg was just behind her in 22nd place thanks to a time of 1:58.06.
 
University of Montreal’s Olivier Lacaille of Montreal was the top Canadian led men with a time of 1:53.42, good for 25th overall.
 
In cross country skiing, Canada finished eighth in the Women’s 3 x 5km relay and ninth in the men’s 4 x 10km event.
 
In women’s hockey, Wilfrid Laurier’s Candice Styles of Orangeville, Ont., scored a hat-trick and Brock’s Beth Clause of Hamilton earned the shutout as defending Universiade champion Canada (5-0) finished first in the preliminary round standings thanks to an 11-0 win over Turkey (0-5). The Canadians advance to the semifinals where they will face the United States (2-3) Friday at 1 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local). See separate game recap for women’s hockey.

TEAM CANADA RESULTS: Wednesday, February 2
 
ALPINE SKIING

Women’s Super Combined Slalom (after 2 of 2 runs)
 
1. Aude Aguilaniu, France, 1:52.00; 20. Kendall Brown, Toronto, Ont., 1:57.45; 22. Nicole Poleschuk, Winnipeg, Man., 1:58.06; Maëlle Bergeron, Quebec City, Que., did not finish; Rebecca Nadler, Ottawa, Ont., did not finish; Marie-France Tessier, Montreal, Que., did not finish.
 
Men’s Super Combined Slalom (after 2 of 2 runs)
 
1. Bernhard Grad, Austria, 1:49.45; 25. Olivier Lacaille, Montreal, Que., 1:53.42;  28. Philippe Rivet, Greenfield Park, Que., 1:52.66; 39. Simon Mannella, Montreal, Que., 1:54.86; 43. Philippe Crête Belzile, Cap-Rouge, Que., 1:56.02; Braden Long, Clarksburg, Ont., did not finish.

BIATHLON
 
Men’s 12.5km Pursuit
 
1. Sergii Semenov, Ukraine, 36:08.6; 2. Artem Pryma, Ukraine, 36:21.7; 3. Evgeniy Garanichev, Russia, 36:31.5; 25. Jon Skinstad, Camrose, Alta., 44:24.2; 39. Kai Skinstad, Camrose, Alta, lapped, did not qualify; 40. Johnny Forward, Corner Brook, Nfld., lapped, did not qualify; Jaime Robb, Hay River, N.W.T., did not start.
 
Women’s 10km Pursuit
 
1. Vita Semerenko, Ukraine, 32:16.3; 2. Daria Virolaynen, Russia, 32:33.0; 3. Evgeniya Sedova, Russia, 33:40.1; 29. Kathryn Stone, Camrose, Alta., lapped, did not qualify; 32. Lauren Brookes, Halifax, N.S., lapped, did not qualify; 35. Jennifer Paterson, St. Alberta, Alta., lapped, did not qualify; 36. Elizabeth Mawdsley, Fort Smith, N.W.T, lapped, did not qualify.
 
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
 
Men’s 4x10km Classic/Free Relay
 
1. France, 1:40:44.8; 2. Russia, 1:40.46.0; 3. Kazakhstan, 1:42:28.3; 9. Canada (Benjamin Hébert, Montreal, Que., Jesse Heckrodt, Enderby, B.C., Anthony Killick, Fort McMurray, Alta., Vincent Ruel, Charny, Que.), 1:55.49.1.
 
Women’s 3x5km Classic/Free Relay
 
1. Russia, 41:51.6; 2. Ukraine, 42:55.2; 3. France, 42:55.2; 8. Canada (Adele Lay, Eden Mills, Ont., Mary Thompson, Woodstock, Ont., Maja Zimmerman, Edmonton, Alta.), 48:36.2.

CURLING
 
Women’s Preliminary Round
 
Game 9 of 9
 
Canada            2 1 2 0 4 0 X X X X – 9
Turkey             0 0 0 2 0 1 X X X X – 3
 
Canada (4-5) completes the preliminary round and does not advance to the medal round.
 
Men’s Preliminary Round
 
Game 8 of 9
 
Canada            0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 X – 6
South Korea     0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 X – 4
 
Game 9 of 9
 
Turkey             0 1 0 0 0 0 1 X X X – 2
Canada            1 0 2 1 3 0 0 X X X – 7
 
Canada (6-3) completes the preliminary round in a tie for fourth place; faces Czech Republic (6-3) on Thursday at 7 a.m. ET in a tie-breaker for a place in Friday’s semifinals.
 
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
 
Preliminary round
 
Canada (5-0) defeats Turkey (0-5) 11-0 and finishes first in the preliminary round; faces United States (2-3) in the semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
 

-CIS-