Lauren Lenentine expects 'new perspective' playing alongside another top-end skip in Manitoba's Kerri Einarson
Lauren Lenentine has yet to complete her first full quadrennial on the women's curling scene and she's already teamed with some of the best skips in the sport.
The 2020 world junior champion played two seasons with Jennifer Jones, spent the past few months with Chelsea Carey and is now set to join Kerri Einarson at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Not bad for a lead who's still five months away from her 25th birthday.
Her season with Carey now complete, Lenentine was recently named team fifth for Einarson at the Feb. 14-23 national playdowns in Thunder Bay, Ont.
"I think it offers me a new perspective," Lenentine said. "I think joining a new team any time, you always are going to learn new things because you're learning from new players and a new coach.
"So I think it's going to be a really great opportunity for me to be exposed to that."
Lauren Lenentine added by Team Einarson as alternate for next month's Scotties
Lenentine made her first two Scotties appearances with skip Mackenzie Zacharias before reaching back-to-back finals with Jones, a 2014 Olympic gold medallist and six-time national champion.
Lenentine was part of a five-player team that lost to Einarson in the 2023 final and she played lead on last year's squad that fell to Rachel Homan in the championship game.
"I've gone deep at the Scotties before and I've also done it in the fifth role," Lenentine said from her hometown of Winnipeg. "So I think it's something that I can keep building on going forward."
As an alternate, she'll need to be game-ready in case of injury or illness and will support her teammates on and off the ice. Duties include rock matching, scouting, and helping at practice sessions.
Looking for 5th national title
She joins a team that's looking for a fifth national title. Einarson, who won four straight titles from 2020-23, is joined by vice Val Sweeting, second Karlee Burgess, lead Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers.
"[They] all have such great experience in the sport and I can never learn too much," Lenentine said. "So being able to spend some time with them, see how they approach big games and big situations is something I'm looking forward to."
Burgess made an in-season jump to Einarson's team as an injury replacement for Shannon Birchard. The move resulted in Carey's squad losing its pre-qualified status for both the Scotties and the Canadian Curling Trials in November.
Carey, a two-time national champion who replaced Jones at skip last spring, no longer had the minimum of three returning players from last season. Her future plans remain unclear and she has declined interview requests.
"Once we lost our spot at the Scotties, our season was essentially finished," Lenentine said. "We had no other events on our schedule at that point. [Joining Einarson] gives me something that I can work toward, I can keep practising and getting on the ice, and just keep being involved in the sport that I love."
Einarson's team is ranked second in Canada behind Homan despite using a number of substitute players in recent months. Birchard appeared at just one bonspiel before shutting down her campaign due to a knee issue.
Regular lead Briane Harris missed the entire season due to a provisional suspension for an anti-doping rule violation last winter. The Court of Arbitration for Sport recently ruled she was not at fault and her ban was lifted, but the news came after the team made roster plans.
Lenentine, a Charlottetown native, was also looking forward to reuniting with Burgess, who made her Team Einarson debut at the WFG Masters earlier this month.
"It makes it a lot easier just having that familiar face around," she said. "I know Karlee quite well from being teammates and friends, so being able to continue that relationship, I'm happy about it."
Einarson will be the top seed in Pool B in the 18-team competition at Fort William Gardens.
"Just being dynamic and being able to adapt has been something that I've learned over the past few years," Lenentine said. "We've had a lot of changes to our team, our team lineup, and just even positionally, getting to learn from Jennifer and Chelsea has been incredible. The things that they've taught me has changed who I am as a curler.
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