Hailey Armstrong
Hailey Breyanne Armstrong[2] (born March 8, 1996) is a Canadian curler from Carleton Place, Ontario.[3] She currently skips her own team out of Waterloo, Ontario.
| Hailey Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1996 |
| Team | |
| Curling club | Rideau CC, Ottawa, ON[1] |
| Skip | Hailey Armstrong |
| Third | Megan Smith |
| Second | Jessica Humphries |
| Lead | Terri Weeks |
| Career | |
| Member Association | Ontario (2013–2019; 2022–present) Quebec (2019–2022) |
| Hearts appearances | 2 (2021, 2022) |
| Top CTRS ranking | 28th (2019–20) |
Career
After winning the 2017 Ontario Junior Curling Championships, Armstrong competed in her lone Canadian Junior Curling Championships of her junior career at the 2017 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. She represented Ontario with teammates Grace Holyoke at third, Lindsay Dubue at second and Marcia Richardson at lead.[4] They finished the round robin and championship pools with an unblemished 10–0 record, qualifying directly for the final where they faced Alberta's Kristen Streifel. Tied 3–3 with hammer in the tenth end, Armstrong was heavy on her final draw, giving Alberta a steal of two and the 5–3 win.[5] Armstrong aged out of juniors the following season and began skipping her own team on the World Curling Tour. Her team qualified for the 2018 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts, where they went 0–3 in the triple knockout tournament. After failing to qualify for the provincial championship in 2019, she joined the Laurie St-Georges rink out of Quebec as their third.
In their first season together, Team St-Georges competed in their first Grand Slam of Curling event at the 2019 Tour Challenge Tier 2 where they lost in a tiebreaker to Megan Balsdon.[6] They also competed in their first provincial women's championship at the 2020 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts. After finishing the round robin in first place, they lost in the final to Noémie Verreault 3–1.[7]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, the 2021 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts was cancelled.[8] Since the defending champions, Team Noémie Verreault, had disbanded, Team St-Georges (the 2020 provincial runner-up) was invited to represent Quebec at the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which they accepted.[9] The event was played in a bio-secure bubble in Calgary, Alberta to prevent the spread of the virus. At the Hearts, Armstrong and her teammates received a lot of media attention and fans thanks to their positive attitudes and strong play on the ice.[10] They also defeated multiple higher ranked teams in the tournament including the Wild Card team of Tracy Fleury (skipped by Chelsea Carey), Corryn Brown's British Columbia rink and Suzanne Birt's team out of Prince Edward Island. Ultimately, they finished the event with a 6–6 record and a seventh place finish.[11]
Team St-Georges began the 2021–22 season with a semifinal finish at the 2021 Oakville Fall Classic where they lost to the event winners Team Jamie Sinclair.[12] They only made the playoffs at one other tour event at the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic, losing in the quarterfinals to Team Jill Brothers.[13] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the qualification process for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials had to be modified to qualify enough teams for the championship. In these modifications, Curling Canada created the 2021 Canadian Curling Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event, an event where eight teams would compete to try to earn one of two spots into the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials.[14] Team St-Georges qualified for the Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event as the second seed. The team won their opening match, but then lost three straight games and were eliminated from the event. The Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts was again cancelled due to the pandemic and Team St-Georges were once again selected to represent Quebec at the national women's championship.[15] The team could not replicate their successful run from 2021, finishing the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a 3–5 record.[16] They won their opening two matches against Alberta's Laura Walker and the Yukon's Hailey Birnie and their last game against Nova Scotia's Christina Black.
Personal life
Armstrong began curling at age 9. She grew up in Perth, and at the time of the 2017 Canadian Juniors, she was living in Innisville, Ontario.[17] Armstrong was business administration student at Algonquin College,[3] and is now a bachelor of commerce student at Nipissing University.[18]
Teams
| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14[19] | Hailey Armstrong | Grace Holyoke | Lindsay Dubue | Marcia Richardson | |
| 2014–15 | Hailey Armstrong | Grace Holyoke | Lindsay Dubue | Marcia Richardson | |
| 2015–16 | Hailey Armstrong | Grace Holyoke | Lindsay Dubue | Marcia Richardson | |
| 2016–17 | Hailey Armstrong | Grace Holyoke | Lindsay Dubue | Marcia Richardson | |
| 2017–18 | Hailey Armstrong | Erica Hopson | Lynsey Longfield | Emma Malfara | |
| 2018–19 | Hailey Armstrong | Melissa Gannon | Rebecca Wichers-Schreur | Jessica Armstrong | |
| 2019–20 | Laurie St-Georges | Hailey Armstrong | Emily Riley | Cynthia St-Georges | Isabelle Thiboutot |
| 2020–21 | Laurie St-Georges | Hailey Armstrong | Emily Riley | Cynthia St-Georges | Florence Boivin |
| 2021–22 | Laurie St-Georges | Hailey Armstrong | Emily Riley | Cynthia St-Georges | Isabelle Thiboutot |
| 2022–23 | Hailey Armstrong | Megan Smith | Jessica Humphries | Terri Weeks |
References
- ^ "Hailey Armstrong Profile". Curling Canada. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "Cougle/Armstrong". Ottawa Citizen. March 13, 1996. p. D9. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ a b "2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "2017 Canadian Junior Curling Championships: Team Ontario (Armstrong)". Curling Canada. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ Video (full game): 2017 Canadian Junior Curling Championship - Women's Final - Ontario (Hailey Armstrong) vs Alberta (Kristen Streifel) on YouTube
- ^ "2019 Tour Challenge Tier 2 Tiebreakers". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "2020 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts – Final". Curling Québec (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ Alanna Routledge (January 14, 2020). "Dévoilement des équipes Québécoises masculine et féminine". Curling Québec (in French). Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ "Meet the Teams: Team Wild Card 2 & Team Quebec". Curling Canada. February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ Ryan Horne (February 22, 2021). "'Curling addict' St-Georges making plenty of noise at Scotties". TSN. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ "Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Scores, standings, schedule". Sportsnet. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ "Howard wins Oakville Fall Classic; Sinclair edges Birt in women's final". TSN. August 29, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ "2021 Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ "2021 Trials proceess revised". Curling Canada. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ Alanna Routledge (January 7, 2022). "Équipe Québec = Équipe St-Georges". Curling Québec. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Standings, schedule and results". Sportsnet. January 28, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ Jane Hobson (February 7, 2017). "Curler Hailey Armstrong has goals of rocking the Olympics". Hometown News Perth. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ "Hailey Armstrong Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 19, 2021.