Ashton Skrlik

Ashton Skrlik (born May 9, 1999) is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta.^[2] She currently plays lead on Team Kayla Skrlik.

Ashton Skrlik
Curler
Born	(1999-05-09) May 9, 1999 (age 25) Nampa, Alberta
Team
Curling club	Garrison CC, Calgary, AB[1]
Skip	Kayla Skrlik
Third	Margot Flemming
Second	Geri-Lynn Ramsay
Lead	Ashton Skrlik
Alternate	Crystal Webster
Curling career
Member Association	Alberta
Hearts appearances	1 (2023)
Top CTRS ranking	10th (2022–23, 2023–24)
Medal record Women's Curling Representing  Alberta North Arctic Winter Games 2014 Fairbanks

Career

Skrlik played third for her sister Kayla Skrlik's rink when the team represented Alberta at the 2016 U18 International Curling Championships. There, the team finished with a 3–2 round robin record, just missing the playoffs. She represented Alberta at her first junior nationals at the 2018 Canadian Junior Curling Championships.^[3] At the championship, Skrlik and her team of skip Kayla Skrlik, second Hope Sunley and lead Megan Johnson finished with a 4–2 round robin record, enough to qualify for the championship round. They then went 3–1 against the other pool, however, this was not enough to qualify for the playoffs and they finished in fourth place with a 7–3 record.^[4] Also in her junior career, Skrlik played third on the Northern Alberta team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Arctic Winter Games.

Out of juniors, Team Skrlik began competing on the World Curling Tour. For the 2018–19 season, they brought on Brenna Bilassy as their new lead, replacing Johnson. Of their three events played, they reached the quarterfinals of the Avonair Cash Spiel and the Boundary Ford Curling Classic.^[5] Skrlik then left her sister's rink for her last year of junior eligibility before rejoining at lead for the 2020–21 season. The team also included third Selena Sturmay and second Brittany Tran. They were unable to play in any events, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the abbreviated season, Sturmay left the team and was replaced by Geri-Lynn Ramsay at third. The team was able to find immediate success by reaching the semifinals of the Alberta Curling Series: Leduc event.^[6] They also made the semifinals of the Ladies Alberta Open and were finalists at the Alberta Curling Series: Thistle event to Germany's Daniela Jentsch.^[7] In December 2021, they qualified for the 2022 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts by defeating Lindsay Bertsch in the final qualifier.^[8] At provincials, the team finished in last place with a 1–6 record. Back on the tour, they reached the final of the Alberta Curling Tour Championship where they lost to Abby Marks.^[9] Team Skrlik rounded out their season at the 2022 Best of the West where they failed to reach the playoffs with a 1–2 record.

Team Skrlik reached the playoffs in two of their first three events during the 2022–23 season but did not advance past the quarterfinal round. The team played in the 2022 Tour Challenge Tier 2 slam event where they lost in a tiebreaker to Kristy Watling.^[10] At the 2022 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, Team Skrlik qualified undefeated through the A side before immediately losing in the quarters to Jennifer Jones.^[11] At the Ladies Alberta Open, they lost their opening match before winning six straight games en route to claiming their first tour title, defeating the Casey Scheidegger rink in the final.^[12] In the new year, the team competed in the 2023 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which they qualified for through their Excel Points ranking.^[13] Team Skrlik was dominant through the round robin, going a perfect 7–0 which included wins over Casey Scheidegger, Kelsey Rocque and Selena Sturmay. This qualified them directly for the provincial final where they faced Team Scheidegger. The game went back and forth, with Skrlik making a highlight reel double takeout in the tenth end to score two and win the game 9–8.^[14] With the win, Team Skrlik represented Alberta at the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts where they missed the playoffs with a 4–4 record.^[15] At the Hearts, the team made history, claiming to be the first "majority BIPOC" team to play at the Hearts^[16] (the Skrliks are half Japanese, and Tran is half Vietnamese). They again ended their season at the Best of the West where they lost in the semifinals to Kelsey Rocque, skipping the Beth Peterson rink.

Personal life

Skrlik's sister Kayla Skrlik is the skip of her team. She attended Mount Royal University for chemistry.^[2] Skrlik is half Japanese.^[17] She currently works as a quality control chemist for ChampionX.^[18]

Teams

Season	Skip	Third	Second	Lead
2013–14[19]	Kayla Skrlik	Cheyanne Richards	Ashton Skrlik	Ashlyn Wozny
2014–15	Kayla Skrlik	Carley Wolfe	Ashton Skrlik	Morgan Krassman
2015–16	Kayla Skrlik	Carley Wolfe	Ashton Skrlik	Morgan Krassman
2016–17	Kayla Skrlik	Carley Wolfe	Ashton Skrlik	Megan Johnson
2017–18	Kayla Skrlik	Ashton Skrlik	Hope Sunley	Megan Johnson
2018–19	Kayla Skrlik	Ashton Skrlik	Hope Sunley	Brenna Bilassy
2019–20	Ryleigh Bakker	Ashton Skrlik	Lisa Parent	Julianna Mackenzie
2020–21	Kayla Skrlik	Selena Sturmay	Brittany Tran	Ashton Skrlik
2021–22	Kayla Skrlik	Geri-Lynn Ramsay	Brittany Tran	Ashton Skrlik
2022–23	Kayla Skrlik	Brittany Tran	Geri-Lynn Ramsay	Ashton Skrlik
2023–24	Kayla Skrlik	Brittany Tran	Geri-Lynn Ramsay	Ashton Skrlik
2024–25[20]	Kayla Skrlik	Margot Flemming	Ashton Skrlik	Geri-Lynn Ramsay

References

1. "Ashton Skrlik Profile". Curling Canada. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
2. "2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
3. "Former Alberta rivals join forces at 2018 New Holland Canadian Juniors". Curling Canada. January 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
4. "February 2018 – Team Skrlik". River Country 94.9. February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
5. "Team Kayla Skrlik: 2018–19". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
6. "2021 Alberta Curling Series: Leduc". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
7. "2021 Alberta Curling Series: Thistle". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
8. Todd Saelhof (January 2, 2022). "Calgary's Kayla Skrlik embraces underdog role at Alberta Scotties". Toronto Sun. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
9. "2022 Boston Pizza Alberta Curling Tour Championship". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
10. "2022 Tour Challenge Tier 2". CurlingZone. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
11. John Cullen (November 2, 2022). "On the 2022 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic". Cullen on Curling. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
12. Remy Greer (November 16, 2022). "Team Skrlik takes down to the wire Ladies Alberta Open in Okotoks". Western Wheel. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
13. "Alberta Curling Tour Standings". Curling Alberta. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
14. Todd Saelhof (January 22, 2023). "Calgary's Kayla Skrlik rises fast to capture Alberta Scotties curling crown". Calgary Sun. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
15. "Tiebreakers needed!". Curling Canada. February 23, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
16. @team_skrlik (May 31, 2023). "This month is Asian Heritage Month & we would like to celebrate our heritage & share our stories with you. This year we made history as the first ever BIPOC majority team at the Scotties and we are extremely proud of the opportunity to be role models for underrepresented groups" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
17. @team_skrlik (31 May 2023). "We also wanted share a bit about ourselves. Brit is half-Vietnamese, half-Caucasian & Kayla & Ashton are half-Japanese, half-Caucasian. One of Brittany's favorite [sic] things to do to share a piece of her culture with friends & family is to make salad rolls. It is a curling staple now" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. "2024 PointsBet Invitational Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
19. "Ashton Skrlik Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
20. "Curling Lineup Changes: Ackerman stepping way, Flemming joins Team Skrlik". TSN. March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.

External links