Close finish to U-17 Slam

The fifth and last of the season's Under 17 events took place at Lockerbie this weekend. The winners of the competition for the Stevenson Trophy were the Blair Fraser team - Thomas Sloan played the last stones, Blair skipped and threw third, Scott Fraser played second and Thomas Muirhead was at lead. They beat Hamilton McMillan, Rori MacPherson, Andi Lock and Hamish McGeoch in the final.

In the photo above, Nancy Murdoch, the Royal Club's Performance Development Coach, presents the Stevenson trophy for the Lockerbie event to L-R Thomas Muirhead, Blair Fraser, Thomas Sloan and Scott Fraser.

The big prize of course, on offer to the overall winners of the Slam and to the best junior women's team, was the opportunity to attend the WCF Summer Camp in Fussen in July. The latter was won by Jennifer Dodds (skip), Tasha Aitken (3rd), Mairi Girvan (2nd) and Mhairi Anderson (lead). The team reached the last four in three events to be the top raked women's team.

The overall Slam title was not so easily decided. Two teams, skipped by Alan Inch and Colin Dick, were tied on the same number of points, on the basis of their best three performances in the Slam events they had participated in. An extra six end game was held at Lockerbie. Down 2-3 in the sixth, Alan Inch, Craig Waddell, Andrew Ballantyne and Kyle Waddell lay the shot needed to peel with one stone remaining. A draw to the four foot to count a second would give them the win and a trip to Germany. The young Hamilton skip was just too heavy, and the game went to an extra end! Drama indeed!

Colin Dick, Anna Sloan, Lauren Gray and Alice Spence (substituting for Struan Wood who was sidelined with illness for the final weekend) were not successful in keeping the front of the house clear in the seventh. But Alan could not get his last behind the cover and Colin had an open hit with his final stone, successfully executed, and it would be the Dick team who will be bound for Fussen.

The photo of the Dick team is here. Two others follow.

Overall best women's team in the Slam L-R: Jennifer Dodds, Tasha Aitken, Mairi Girvan and Mhairi Anderson.

Alan Inch and Colin Dick in the Slam decider.
Photos by Bob.