Lisa Weagle



Lisa Weagle (born March 24, 1985 in Ottawa) is a Canadian curler from Ottawa, Ontario. Weagle is the lead on the team skipped, or captained, by Rachel Homan out of the Ottawa Curling Club. ==Career[edit] == Weagle joined the rink, or team, that won the 2010 Canadian Junior Women's Curling Championship over the summer of 2010, replacing Lynn Kreviazuk at lead position. She had previously played lead for Jenn Hanna at the 2009 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts where her rink lost a tie-breaker to Alison Goring. Her 2009 run at the provincial title saw her reuniting with Lee Merklinger who was her longtime teammate and skip through Bantam and Junior playdowns. Weagle had replaced Lauren Mann on the Hanna team just before provincials.

Weagle played second on Merklinger's Ottawa rink that won the 2000 Ontario Bantam Girl's Championship. Merklinger's rink stayed together through juniors and were one of the top teams in Ontario for several years.[1]  Weagle qualified for the junior women's provincials every year from 2001 to 2005.[2]  The team made it to two junior finals.

Weagle has also played front end for Robyn Mattie who was the 2003 Canadian Junior Women's Runner-Up.[3]

Weagle has also won two Grand Slam events with the team, the 2012 Masters of Curling and the 2013 Masters of Curling and numerous other cash bonspiels.

In February 2011 the foursome of Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Weagle went 8-1 in the round robin of the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts. They defeated Tracy Horganin the 1-2 page playoff game to advance to the final against Krista McCarville.[4]  The Ottawa rink defeated McCarville 9-6 in the final.[5]  The team represented Ontario at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in February 2011 where they finished in fourth place. The team won their second provincial title when they defeated Cathy Auld at the 2013 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The team would go on to win the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts by defeating Jennifer Jones' Manitoba team. Weagle won the Sandra Schmirler Most Valuable Player Award for her performance in the playoffs of the 2013 Scotties. She is only the third lead to have been named MVP. Weagle was called to make a number of difficult "tick" shots throughout the final game against Manitoba, including the very first end of the match. The tick shot has traditionally been reserved as a defensive strategy in order to maintain a lead towards the end of games, but the Homan rink employed Weagle to perform this tactic throughout the game to a huge degree of success. While Weagle made most of these ticks, the high degree of difficulty meant that her shooting percentages were typically lower than her opposing leads, due to the typically low degree of difficulty for shots that leads are usually called upon to throw.

The team represented Canada at the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship, Weagle's first international event. Weagle continued to be utilized for her tick shots, and led all curlers in the event for most tick shots played. Her shooting percentage was 82% during the round robin, which was tied for sixth among leads. The team would go on to win the bronze medal at the event.

In the 2013-14 season, the team won a disappointing bronze medal at the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but would later go on to win the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. ==Personal life[edit] == Weagle works for the Department of Canadian Heritage in Hull, Quebec as a communications advisor for Sport Canada.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]  Weagle graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2007 with a Communications degree.