Mackenzie Zacharias

Mackenzie Zacharias (born June 8, 1999) is a Canadian curler from Altona, Manitoba. She skipped her Manitoba rink to a gold medal at both the 2020 Canadian Junior Curling Championships and the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships.

Career

Zacharias represented Manitoba at the 2016 U18 International Curling Championships and skipped the rink to gold medal, defeating the other undefeated team New Brunswick's Justine Comeau in the final. She also represented Manitoba the following year at the 2017 Canadian U18 Curling Championships where they finished with a 4–4 record.

Zacharias won her first Manitoba junior title in 2019. She skipped her rink to a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. The following year, she and her sister Emily Zacharias brought on Karlee Burgess and Lauren Lenentine to the team. They would win the Manitoba juniors once again and represent Manitoba at the national championship. They would not have any loses at the 2020 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, completing a perfect 11–0 week by defeating Alberta's Abby Marks in the final. At the world junior championships, they defeated South Korea's Kim Min-ji to claim the gold medal.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, many provinces had to cancel their provincial championships, with member associations selecting their representatives for the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Due to this situation, Curling Canada added three Wild Card teams to the national championship, which were based on the CTRS standings from the 2019–20 season. Because Team Zacharias ranked 11th on the CTRS and kept at least three of their four players together for the 2020–21 season, they got the second Wild Card spot at the 2021 Scotties in Calgary, Alberta. At the Hearts, Zacharias led her team to a 3–5 round robin record, failing to qualify for the championship round.

Team Zacharias won their second event of the 2021–22 season, going undefeated to capture the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic. They later had a semifinal finish at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard after losing to eventual winners Team Hollie Duncan. Because of their successes on tour, Team Zacharias had enough points to qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials. At the Pre-Trials, the team finished the round robin with a 4–2 record. This qualified them for the double knockout round, where they lost both of their games and were eliminated. Elsewhere on tour, the team reached the quarterfinals of the Red Deer Curling Classic and won the MCT Championships in November 2021. At the 2022 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts in December 2021, Team Zacharias finished with a 3–2 record in their pool, enough to advance to the championship pool. They then won three straight games to finish first overall and earn a bye to the provincial final. In the final, they faced the Kristy Watling rink which they defeated 7–5, earning the right to represent Manitoba at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. At the Hearts, Zacharias led her team to a 5–3 record. This qualified them for a tiebreaker against the Northwest Territories' Kerry Galusha, which they lost 8–6 and were eliminated. Team Zacharias played in their first Grand Slam event at the 2022 Players' Championship. There, they posted a 2–3 record, missing the playoffs. They wrapped up their season at the 2022 Best of the West event where they lost in the semifinals to Corryn Brown.

On March 17, 2022, Team Zacharias announced that they would be joining forces with Jennifer Jones for the 2022–23 season. Jones would take over the team as skip, with the four Zacharias members each moving down one position in the lineup. The newly revised Jones lineup found immediate success on tour, winning the 2022 Saville Shoot-Out after an undefeated run. The team then competed in the 2022 PointsBet Invitational single elimination event where they won all four of their games to claim the title. They had three semifinal finishes in a row at the 2022 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, 2022 Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic and the DeKalb Superspiel, losing to Michèle Jäggi, Christina Black and Nancy Martin respectively. At the 2023 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team Jones went undefeated to win their first provincial title as a new squad. This qualified the team for the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts where after an opening draw loss, they went on a ten-game winning streak to qualify for the final where they faced the three-time defending champions in Team Kerri Einarson. Tied 2–2 in the fifth, Jones pulled up light on her final draw which gave Team Canada a steal of two. In the ninth, Jones missed a pivotal freeze which left Einarson with an open hit to count five to secure the win. In Grand Slam play, Team Jones reached the playoffs in four of six events but never made it past the quarterfinal round.

Following the 2022–23 season, Zacharias announced she would be stepping back from competitive curling. She did compete in one event during the 2023–24 season, however, the 2024 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts where she was the alternate for the Kate Cameron rink. The team finished 6–2 through the round robin and championship round. This qualified them for the semifinal, where they lost 8–4 to Beth Peterson.

Personal life

Zacharias is currently a Kinesiology student at the University of Manitoba and is a fitness trainer at 9Round Kickboxing Fitness.

Grand Slam record

Year-by-year statistics

Teams

Notes

References

External links

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Living people
1999 births
Canadian women curlers
Curlers from Winnipeg
Sportswomen from Manitoba
University of Manitoba alumni
People from Altona, Manitoba
21st-century Canadian sportswomen