REGINA, Sask. – The Guelph Gryphons women's curling team fell just short of reaching the national semifinals, with the team of
Katrina Frlan (skip), Erica Wainwright (vice),
Aila Thompson (second),
Kelsea Marcolini (lead) and
Liana Flanagan (fifth) finishing the tournament T-5th at the 2026 U SPORTS Curling Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan (Feb. 17-20). The Gryphons earned a trip to nationals thanks to their performance at the OUA Championships (Feb. 6-8),
where the team captured the program's first OUA women's curling title in 46 years. After arriving in Saskatchewan for the national championship event, Team Frlan picked up right where they left off, defeating the host Regina Cougars, 10-3, on the opening day of play. The next morning (Wednesday, Feb. 18), the Gryphons defeated the UNB Reds, 5-4, to open up the tournament with back-to-back wins. After losses to McMaster, Alberta and Memorial dropped the Gryphons record to 2-3, the team bounced back on Friday (Feb. 20) with a 7-3 victory over the Calgary Dinos to improve their record to 3-3. It set up a crucial final match of pool play with the Queen's Gaels, where a win for Guelph would send them through to the semifinals. The Gryphons and Gaels were tied at 2-2 after 7 ends, but it would be Queen's winning on the lost rock of the 8th end to secure the 4-2 victory, ending Guelph's hopes of a national title.
"The team battled hard against a great field this week," said Gryphons women's curling head coach,
Morgan Lavell. "I'm really proud of their performance and resilience in so many close games. With their first U SPORTS event under their belt, we will be working hard to return to the national stage again and know the future is bright with this year's team being a full rookie squad."
This marks the second consecutive season in which the Gryphons women's curling program has reached nationals, with last year's team of
Jillian Uniacke, Abby Parkinson,
Liana Flanagan,
Monica Tanguay and
Sarah Woodward finishing 5th in Lethbridge.
