THORNHILL, Ont. - In just their second weekend of competition this season, Laurier's curling teams made a pair of finals appearances at the University of Toronto Invitational Bonspiel hosted by Thornhill Curling Club.

The Jamie Smith-led Golden Hawks women's rink made up of both junior varsity and varsity student-athletes recorded a second-place finish, after narrowly losing 4-3 to the Waterloo Warriors in a Battle of Waterloo championship match-up.

Smith skipped the team of vice Logan Shaw, second Rebecca Rankin, and led Elise Rigby to wins over the OUA Selects (14-2), and the host Varsity Blues (6-2), before narrowly losing a Battle of Waterloo finale.

A similar combination junior varsity and varsity Laurier squad consisting of Codie Harris, Adam Moor, Hayden Gdanski, and Ben Pearce that were led by skip Wyatt Wright shook off a slow start after losing their opener to the Warriors 6-5 by dominating their next two draws; a 7-2 win over the Varsity Blues and an 11-1 romp of the Guelph Gryphons in the consolation final. 
 
Laurier will be back in action shortly after the start of the new year when they head to the Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club for the McMaster Invitational Bonspiel from January 6-7.

With one more tune-up scheduled after that before the OUA Championships, there is added motivation for both teams this season as this year's U SPORTS champions will represent Canada at the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy.