- Colleen Jones
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Colleen P. Jones Team Curling club Mayflower Curling Club, Halifax Skip Colleen Jones Third Nancy Delahunt Second Marsha Sobey Lead Mary Sue Radford Career Hearts appearances 20: (1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) World Championship
appearances6 (1982, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) Top CCA ranking 2nd (2003-04) Grand Slam victories 0 Medal record Curling World Championships Gold 2001 Lausanne Gold 2004 Gävle Silver 2003 Winnipeg Scotties Tournament of Hearts Gold 1982 Regina Gold 1999 Charlottetown Gold 2001 Sudbury Gold 2002 Brandon Gold 2003 Kitchener Gold 2004 Red Deer Silver 1980 Edmonton Silver 1984 Charlottetown Bronze 2006 London Canadian Olympic Curling Trials Bronze 2001 Regina Canada Games Silver 1979 Brandon Colleen P. Jones (born December 16, 1959 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a Canadian curler and television personality. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an unprecedented four titles in a row. She also serves as a reporter and weather presenter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and as a curling commentator for the National Broadcasting Company in the United States, particularly during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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Early career
From a family of curlers, at age 14, she joined the Mayflower Curling Club. At an early age, she gained success in competitive curling and was only 19 years old when she won the first of her 16 Nova Scotia curling titles. That led to competing in the Canadian championships, where she finished second. Jones graduated from Dalhousie University and went to work in broadcasting in her native Halifax.
In 1982 she became the youngest skip, at age 22, ever to win the Canadian women's curling championship but career, marriage and a family slowed down her competitive curling. She joined CBC Television as a reporter in 1986 and went on to cover numerous summer and winter Olympic Games. She continues to work for the CBC, and is currently the weather and sports reporter on CBC Newsworld's CBC News: Morning.
Broadcasting career
Jones is a TV personality, but began her broadcasting career in radio sports at CHUM radio in 1982. She made the switch to television broadcasting in 1984 at CTV, and joined the CBC in 1986.[1]
Beginning in 1993, Colleen Jones has been the weather presenter and sports reporter for CBC Morning News on CBC Newsworld (now CBC News Network).
Jones starred in a public service announcement about the Canada 2006 Census. Jones appeared in the January 15, 2008 episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes for a skit titled MVC Most Valuable Curler. At the 2006 Torino Olympics, she did CBC segments about curling.
Jones provided curling commentary for NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Curling career
1999-2006
In 1999, with her new team of Kim Kelly, Mary Anne Waye (later Arsenault) and Nancy Delahunt, Jones won the Canadian curling title for the second time. The team repeated this in 2001 and they went on to win the World Curling Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland. They followed this up with another Canadian championship in 2002 and then won it for a record-setting fifth time at the 2004 Scott Tournament of Hearts. This made Jones the first skip to win four straight Canadian titles. From there the team went on to win their second World Curling Championship.
Their return at the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts was not as stellar. The team finished the round-robin at 6-5 and lost in a tie-breaker to Sandy Comeau of New Brunswick. When this happened, the team got a standing ovation, which even halted play in the other game that was occurring two sheets over. The following year, the team was back in form, but bowed out in the semi-finals to Jennifer Jones. At the end of the 2006 season, the team broke up. Jones joined the team of fellow Haligonian Kay Zinck, as her third. The rest of the team got a new skip in Laine Peters. [1]
2006-2008
After a short run playing third for Kay Zinck during the 2006/2007 season, Jones went back to skipping. For the 2007/2008 season she would add Olympic bronze medallist Georgina Wheatcroft to her team along with Kate Hamer and Darah Provencal. At the end of the season Jones would retire from competitive curling.
2010-2011
Colleen Jones announced on March 24, 2010 on CBC News that she would be again returning to competitive curling. Having been present for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a spark ignited in her, and she once again wanted to make another run for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
For the 2010/2011 season, Jones was recruited by Heather Smith-Dacey, Blisse Comstock and Teri Lake, to take over skipping duties, when former skip Jill Mouzar moved to Ontario. Just as Jones was due to begin her competitive curling comeback, days before beginning the playdowns for the Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, It was announced on December 10, 2010 that Jones was diagnosed with meningitis.[2] Jones turned over skipping duties to Heather Smith-Dacey, and brought in Danielle Parsons to play at third. Smith-Dacey's team won the Nova Scotia title, and then went on to win the bronze medal at the 2011 Scotties. Jones was able to return to competition after recovering from her illness, and won the 2011 Nova Scotia Senior Women's Championship on February 27.[3]
2011-Current
For the 2011/2012 season Jones has recruited a new squad consisting of Kristen MacDiarmid, Helen Radford and Mary Sue Radford, all whom previous played with Theresa Breen. She has since modified her team adding former teammate Nancy Delahunt to third, and Marsha Sobey to second. Mary Sue Radford remains at lead. Delahunt and Sobey were members of Jones' Senior women's champion team.
Career highlights
Colleen Jones is a member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame, and has been in 7 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, where she has won 2 titles (as vice-skip).
- Canadian Champion: 1982, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
- World Curling Championship: 2001, 2004
- Canadian Mixed Curling Champion: 1993, 1999
Grand Slam record
Event 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 Autumn Gold DNP Q DNP DNP DNP DNP Manitoba Lotteries DNP Q DNP DNP Q DNP Wayden Transportation DNP Q DNP N/A N/A N/A Sobeys Slam N/A Q DNP N/A Q Players' Championships SF DNP DNP DNP DNP Key
- C – Champion
- F – Lost final
- SF – Lost semi final
- QF – Lost quarter final
- Q – Did not make playoffs
- DNP – Did not participate in event
- N/A – not a Grand Slam event that season
References
- ^ CBC Personalities - Colleen Jones
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/curling/story/2010/12/10/sp-curling-jones.html
- ^ Television broadcast of 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, The Sports Network, Feb. 27, 2011
See also
Categories:- 1959 births
- Living people
- Curlers from Nova Scotia
- Canadian Curling Hall of Fame inductees
- Dalhousie University alumni
- Canadian television sportscasters
- Canadian television meteorologists
- People from Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Canadian people of Welsh descent
- World curling champions
- Women sports announcers
- Curling broadcasters
- Canadian women curlers
- Canadian women's curling champions
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