Marlee Powers

Marlee Powers (born July 17, 1991 in Bridgewater) is a Canadian curler from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is currently the alternate on Team Christina Black.

Career

Women's

Powers joined the Theresa Breen rink at third for the 2017–18 season. The team had a strong start to the season, winning the Lady Monctonian Invitational Spiel and reaching the final of the Lakeshore Curling Club Cashspiel and the Dave Jones Mayflower Cashspiel. With these strong results, the team earned enough points to qualify for the 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The spot was initially given to Stefanie Lawton, however, she did not retain three of her four players from the 2016–17 season, giving the spot to Breen. At the Pre-Trials, the team upset the top ranked Tracy Fleury rink in their opening game and then defeated 2006 Olympic bronze medallist Shannon Kleibrink. Ultimately, they finished 3–3 through the preliminary round before dropping a tiebreaker to Nadine Scotland, eliminating them from contention. At the 2018 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team Breen finished 4–3 in the round robin but were once again eliminated in a tiebreaker, losing 8–5 to Jill Brothers.

The Breen rink struggled to find success during the 2018–19 season, failing to qualify in all six tour events played. These struggles continued into the 2019 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts where they won just two games, finishing at the bottom of the pool with a 2–5 record. The following season, they reached their fourth final as a team at the Dave Jones Mayflower Cashspiel, dropping a 5–3 game to Japan's Tori Koana. This was their only playoff appearance of the season, however, with a 3–4 record at the 2020 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts ending the teams run together. Powers was set to skip her own team for the 2020–21 season before it got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the 2021–22 season, Powers and former teammates Jocelyn Adams and Amanda Simpson teamed up with Emily Dwyer. With Powers at the helm, the team reached the playoffs in two tour stops in Moncton and Windsor. For the 2022 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Sarah Mallais of New Brunswick replaced Dwyer who was travelling for work with the World Curling Federation. The team failed to advance to the playoffs, finishing 1–3 through the triple knockout qualifying round. Dwyer was replaced on the team the following season by Mary Myketyn-Driscoll. This lineup saw significantly more success with the team qualifying in four of five events. This included a finals appearance at the Bogside Cup and semifinal finishes at the Superstore Lady Monctonian, the Tim Hortons Spitfire Arms Cash Spiel and the Jim Sullivan Curling Classic. Entering the 2023 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts as the second ranked team, the Powers rink finished third after losing in the C qualifier to Tanya Hilliard.

After three seasons as a skip, Powers moved to second when she joined the Jessica Daigle rink for the 2023–24 season. With third Mary Myketyn-Driscoll and lead Lindsey Burgess, the team won The Curling Store Cashspiel to start the year. In October, Myketyn-Driscoll left the team and was replaced by New Brunswick's Katie Vandenborre. Leading up to provincials, the team had back-to-back semifinal appearances in Fredericton and Montague, losing out to Heather Smith and Tanya Hilliard. At the 2024 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team Daigle had a hot start, winning two straight games to reach the A qualifier. They then lost their next three games, eliminating them from contention. Following the season, Powers was added to the Christina Black rink as their alternate for the 2024–25 season. The team had success in their first season together, winning the Tier 2 event of the 2024 Tour Challenge, qualifying them for the 2024 National Grand Slam, where they lost in the Quarterfinals to Anna Hasselborg. Black would also go on to win the 2025 NS Women's Championship, beating clubmate Mackenzie Mitchell in the final, qualifying the team to represent Nova Scotia at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. At the 2025 Scotties, the Black rink finished 2nd in Pool B with a 6–2 record, and would make it to the semifinals, where she lost to Kerri Einarson 9–8 after a measurement in the 10th end, winning a bronze medal for Nova Scotia.

Mixed

In 2022, Powers competed in the 2022 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship with Paul Flemming, Marie Christianson and Scott Saccary. The team had previously won the Nova Scotia mixed provincial with Jill Brothers, however, she was unable to attend the national championship. Through the round robin, the team finished with a 4–2 record, enough to qualify for the championship pool. They then lost three of their next four games, finishing eighth with an even 5–5 record. The following year, she won the provincial mixed championship, playing with fiancé Luke Saunders, his mother Colleen Jones and Flemming. This squad had much more success, finishing 7–3 through the round robin and championship pools and qualifying for the playoffs. They then lost to Saskatchewan and Ontario in the semifinal and bronze medal game, respectively, finishing fourth.

Mixed doubles

Powers plays mixed doubles with her fiancé Luke Saunders. In 2024, Powers and Saunders won the Nova Scotia mixed doubles championship, qualifying for the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Fredericton. There, the pair had a strong start with wins in four of their first five games. They then lost both of their last two games on the final day of round robin, eliminating them with a 4–3 record. Powers and Saunders returned to the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, where they would improve on their previous year's appearance, finishing second, losing to Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott 9–8 in the final.

Personal life

Powers is employed as a planning and logistics manager at Nova Scotia Health Authority. She is engaged to fellow curler Luke Saunders who she plays mixed doubles with. She previously played volleyball while attending Dalhousie University.

Teams

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Marlee
1991 births
Canadian women curlers
Living people
Curlers from Halifax, Nova Scotia
People from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
21st-century Canadian sportswomen
Dalhousie University alumni