Lauren Lenentine to serve as alternate for Team Kerri Einarson at Scotties – Winnipeg

Team Kerri Einarson has added another player from the defunct Team Chelsea Carey to its roster for the Canadian women’s curling championship next month.

Lauren Lenentine will serve as an alternate for the four-time national champions. The move was finalized Monday when Curling Canada confirmed the 18-team lineup for the Feb. 14-23 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.

“Lauren brings plenty of experience to the team and we’re excited to have her with us in Thunder Bay,” the team said in a social media post.

Lenentine’s addition comes a few weeks after Karlee Burgess joined the squad as an injury replacement for Shannon Birchard. Burgess made her team debut at the recent WFG Masters in Guelph, Ont., and will fill in at second for the rest of the season.

Lead Briane Harris, who was reinstated this month after a nearly yearlong provisional suspension, was left off the roster when the team confirmed its starting foursome last Friday.

Einarson, Burgess, vice Val Sweeting and lead Krysten Karwacki — who previously served as fifth when Harris was in the lineup — will continue as a foursome “to maintain consistency,” the team posted.

“She’s still part of the team even though she won’t be coming with us,” coach Reid Carruthers said of Harris. “As a team, there’s lots of discussions for us to have. She hasn’t been in the lineup but she’s still very much a part of Team Einarson.”

Harris hasn’t played since being notified of a positive test for the banned substance Ligandrol last February on the eve of the 2024 Scotties. She was cleared to return on Jan. 14 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled she was not at fault.

“Due to the 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 posted.

Harris, who declined an interview request, was not allowed to communicate or practise with her teammates while under provisional suspension.

Carruthers said the players “really struggled” through that part of the process because there were so many unknowns. He added that it led to a difficult situation and some “tricky conversations” once the ban was lifted.

“The way that it’s gone is it has not been easy for anyone,” he said.

“We’re thrilled that she can still be part of the unit in a way. It’s nice to be able to still reconnect and I would say that that’s one of the areas that we really need to work on.”

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Lenentine and Burgess, meanwhile, were teammates with Emily Zacharias on a foursome skipped by Carey this season. The squad was No. 2 in Canada at the start of the campaign but has since tumbled to 15th.

The Winnipeg-based squad lost its pre-qualified status for the Scotties and the Canadian Curling Trials when Burgess left the team as it no longer had the minimum three returning members from last season.

Carey, who replaced Jennifer Jones as skip last spring, has declined multiple interview requests. Coach Glenn Howard recently confirmed the squad had disbanded.

The team has not provided an update via social media or issued a statement since the Burgess departure was announced Jan. 2.

Lenentine, a 24-year-old lead, earned silver at the Scotties in 2023 and ’24. She won a world junior title in 2020 with Zacharias, Burgess and skip Mackenzie Zacharias.

Einarson, from Gimli, Man., is ranked second in Canada behind Ottawa’s Rachel Homan.

Both teams have pre-qualified for the trials in November. The winner of that competition will represent Canada at the 2026 Milan Olympics.
Carruthers said Team Einarson’s lineup plans for the 2025-26 season will be discussed in the spring.

“The lineup that you saw in Guelph is the lineup that we’ll have for the Scotties and for the (season-ending) Players’ (Championship),” he said.

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