Drive for 5: Kerri Einarson aims for consecutive wins record at Scotties

Kerri Einarson agrees with a saying in sport that it is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.

Winner of four straight Canadian women's curling championships, the Manitoba skip says each title has been progressively harder to claim. The fifth could be the toughest yet.

"Absolutely. Everyone is gunning for you, but we know what that is like," Einarson said. "We've just kind of got to do our thing and worry about ourselves and let the chips fall.

Einarson opens her quintuple bid Friday against Quebec's Laurie St-Georges at WinSport International Arena at Calgary's Canada Olympic Park.

The 18-team Scotties Tournament of Hearts concludes Feb. 25 with the victor representing Canada at the world championship March 16-24 in Sydney, N.S.

Einarson's Gimli Curling Club foursome including vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris tied Colleen Jones (2001-04) with a fourth consecutive crown last year in Kamloops, B.C.

They defeated Jennifer Jones in the final to earn a return trip to nationals as defending champion a fifth time.

A fifth victory would catapult Einarson and company into a category of their own in Canadian curling's history books.

"Very difficult. No one has done that," Einarson said. "Definitely it's crossed our minds of course. It would be pretty amazing to win five in a row. That's definitely something that we would love to have under our belts."

After bronze medals in two straight world championships, Einarson wants to move up that podium.

"We've got a lot of unfinished business we want to take care of and to bring gold home for Canada would be a dream come true for us," she said.

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