After they had finally qualified for the B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts women's provincial curling championship, Tracey Jones and her teammates sat down and did a little figuring.
In their quest for a Scotties berth, they played 13 games and 118 ends. They also spent 53.4 hours on the highways and covered a total of 4,802 kilometres as they trekked first to Lake Cowichan, then to Kelowna, and lastly to Maple Ridge.
So when they defeated the Leanne Andrews rink 10-5 in a do-or-die game Sunday afternoon in Maple Ridge and secured the last of 10 spots in provincials, they were one happy and relieved bunch.
"We persevered," said Jones, skip of the Prince George Golf and Curling Club team that includes Falon Burkitt, Kay-Lynn Thompson and Melinda Kotsch. "It was a great feeling and we're all pretty happy to be coming home to play."
That's the kicker, of course. The B.C. Scotties will be held at the PGGCC from Jan. 6-12.
Prior to this season, Jones, Thompson and Kotsch had all been away from the game for a couple years. Knowing Prince George was going to host provincials, they decided to join forces again and recruited the 22-year-old Burkitt to throw third stones.
"When we heard [the B.C. Scotties] was coming here, it was like, 'OK, we have to put a team in because it will never happen again, at least not while we're playing,'" Jones said. "So we're stoked to be playing at home in front of our friends and families."
In the first qualifier, in Lake Cowichan in November, Jones and her mates posted a 1-3 record and failed to advance.
Then, in Kelowna in early December, they were one win away from making it to the B.C. Scotties but lost 8-5 to Cloverdale's Marla Mallett. Jones and company finished that weekend with a mark of 3-2.
Finally, in Maple Ridge, Team Jones went 3-1 and clinched its spot with the win against Andrews, who was representing the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. To start that qualifier, Jones lost 5-4 to Andrews and then had to deal with the mental and physical challenge of trying to win three in a row to get to provincials.
"We were hoping that we could just get there and play and win and move on so it was tough to think, 'OK, now we have to win three more games to get that last and final spot,'" Jones said.
After the opening setback against Andrews, the Jones rink rolled to wins against Heather Tyre of Kelowna (5-3) and Lynn Noble of Qualicum (10-7).
In the rematch against Andrews, Jones broke things open with a steal of three in the fourth end and three more points in the sixth.
While the road to the B.C. Scotties turned into an arduous journey, it may ultimately benefit the Jones rink. With the sheer number of games the team played, and the pressure-packed situations it endured, it will certainly be battle-tested when it opens play at provincials.
"We played a lot of games to get here but we feel it's a positive thing," said Jones.
"We still haven't got everything together but it's coming," she added. "We're working well together but we definitely have room for improvement too."
As the last team to clinch a spot in the tournament, the Jones rink should also be able to enter provincials with very little pressure on it.
"That's exactly what we were chatting about," Jones said. "We're just going to go in there and enjoy the moment and hopefully we can put it together for that week."
At the B.C. Scotties, Prince George will be represented by two teams, as the Patti Knezevic foursome has also qualified. Other rinks will be skipped by Mallett, Kelly Scott (Kelowna), Allison MacInnes (Abbotsford), Sarah Wark (Victoria), Kesa Van Osch (Victoria), Shawna Jensen (Victoria), Amy Gibson (Vancouver) and Karla Thompson (Kamloops).
Scott, who has Canadian and world titles to her credit, is the four-time defending champion.
The winner of the B.C. Scotties will advance to nationals, Feb. 1-9 in Montreal. The Canadian champion will compete at worlds, March 15-23 in Saint John, N.B.
Tickets for the B.C. Scotties are available at the PGGCC or by calling 250-563-0357, local 100.
