Birt to skip PEI at women’s curling championship

Prince Edward Island skip Suzanne Birt. (Ryan Remiorz/CP)

Suzanne Birt’s team from Prince Edward Island has joined the field for next month’s Canadian women’s curling championship.

Birt, a former world junior champion, claimed her eighth provincial women’s crown Monday with a 10-4 victory over Kathy O’Rourke in Summerside.

The field for the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask., will be complete Sunday when New Brunswick’s representative is decided.

The Canadian championship Feb. 14-22 also features: defending champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa; Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones (Manitoba); Julie Hastings (Ontario); Stefanie Lawston (Saskatchewan); Val Sweeting (Alberta); Patti Knezevic (B.C.); Mary-Anne Arsenault (Nova Scotia); Lauren Mann (Quebec); Heather Strong (Newfoundland and Labrador); Tracy Horgan (Northern Ontario); Kerry Galusha (Northwest Territories); Sarah Koltun (Yukon).

Under a new format introduced by the Canadian Curling Association this year, Horgan, Galusha and Koltun will play off in a qualifier Feb. 12 to determine which team advances to the main draw.

The Scotties winner represents Canada at the world women’s championship March 14-22 in Sapporo, Japan.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.