Einarson keeping WFG Masters lineup for Scotties Tournament of Hearts
Team Einarson will roll with the same lineup from the WFG Masters for next month’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The Gimli, Man., club announced Friday on social media that its lineup for the Canadian women’s curling championship will consist of skip Kerri Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Karlee Burgess and lead Krysten Karwacki.
Burgess, who previously played with skip Chelsea Carey, joined ahead of last week’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament as an injury replacement for second Shannon Birchard, who will miss the remainder of the season to recover from a knee injury.
Team Einarson reached the quarterfinals of the WFG Masters with Burgess on board.
Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and lead Briane Harris won four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts championships from 2020-23. Harris was provisionally suspended last year after testing positive for the banned substance Ligandrol. The ban was lifted last week as the Court of Arbitration for Sport found Harris at “no fault or negligence.”
“We would like to reiterate our happiness in hearing Briane’s news that she is cleared and can return to playing the sport she loves,” the team said in its post. “Due to uncertainty of not knowing the timing and final result of Briane’s appeal, we had locked in our fifth player for the Scotties before hearing her news.”
The team plans to name its alternate for the event “in the coming days.”
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs Feb. 14–23 in Thunder Bay, Ont.