Emily Riley (born September 23, 1997) is a Canadian curler from Pincourt, Quebec.[2] She currently plays second on Team Laurie St-Georges.

Emily Riley
Born (1997-09-23) September 23, 1997 (age 27)
Team
Curling clubGlenmore CC,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC[1]
SkipLaurie St-Georges
ThirdJamie Sinclair
SecondEmily Riley
LeadLisa Weagle
Mixed doubles
partner
Jesse Mullen
Curling career
Member Association Quebec
Hearts appearances4 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
World Mixed Championship
appearances
1 (2023)
Top CTRS ranking20th (2023–24)
Medal record
Curling
Representing  Canada
World Mixed Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Aberdeen

Career

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Riley is an accomplished junior curler, having participated in three Canadian Junior Curling Championships in 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2016, her team skipped by Laurie St-Georges, finished the tournament with a 6–4 record, finishing in sixth place. In 2018, her team made it all the way to the final before losing to Nova Scotia's Kaitlyn Jones, earning the silver medal.[3] In her final appearance in 2019, her team lost to British Columbia's Sarah Daniels in a tiebreaker to qualify for the playoff round.[4] Also during the 2018–19 season, Team St-Georges lost in the final of the Curl Mesabi Classic World Curling Tour event.[5]

Riley aged out of juniors the following season and continued playing with Team St-Georges. They competed in their first Grand Slam of Curling event at the 2019 Tour Challenge Tier 2 where they lost in a tiebreaker to Megan Balsdon.[6] Team St-Georges also competed in their first provincial women's championship at the 2020 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts. After finishing the round robin in first place, they lost in the final to Noémie Verreault 3–1.[7]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, the 2021 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts was cancelled.[8] Since the defending champions, Team Noémie Verreault, had disbanded, Team St-Georges (the 2020 provincial runner-up) was invited to represent Quebec at the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which they accepted.[9] The event was played in a bio-secure bubble in Calgary, Alberta to prevent the spread of the virus. At the Hearts, Riley and her teammates received a lot of media attention and fans thanks to their positive attitudes and strong play on the ice.[10] They also defeated multiple higher ranked teams in the tournament including the Wild Card team of Tracy Fleury (skipped by Chelsea Carey), Corryn Brown's British Columbia rink and Suzanne Birt's team out of Prince Edward Island. Ultimately, they finished the event with a 6–6 record and a seventh place finish.[11]

Team St-Georges began the 2021–22 season with a semifinal finish at the 2021 Oakville Fall Classic where they lost to the event winners Team Jamie Sinclair.[12] They only made the playoffs at one other tour event at the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic, losing in the quarterfinals to Team Jill Brothers.[13] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the qualification process for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials had to be modified to qualify enough teams for the championship. In these modifications, Curling Canada created the 2021 Canadian Curling Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event, an event where eight teams would compete to try to earn one of two spots into the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials.[14] Team St-Georges qualified for the Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event as the second seed. The team won their opening match, but then lost three straight games and were eliminated from the event. The Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts was again cancelled due to the pandemic and Team St-Georges were once again selected to represent Quebec at the national women's championship.[15] The team could not replicate their successful run from 2021, finishing the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a 3–5 record.[16] They won their opening two matches against Alberta's Laura Walker and the Yukon's Hailey Birnie and their last game against Nova Scotia's Christina Black.

Aside from women's curling, Riley competed in the 2019 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, playing lead for Félix Asselin. The team finished on top of the standings after the championship pool with an 8–2 record before losing in the semifinal to Nova Scotia. They bounced back in the bronze medal game, defeating Ontario for the bronze medal.[17] The team returned to the Canadian Mixed Championship in 2022, winning the event for Quebec.[18] They went on to win the bronze medal at the world mixed curling championships in Aberdeen, Scotland, narrowly defeating Norway 4-3.[19]

Personal life

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Riley is currently a mental performance consultant.[20] She studied sports psychology at the University of Ottawa. She is in a relationship with Matt Morin.[2]

Teams

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Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate
2015–16[21] Laurie St-Georges Cynthia St-Georges Meaghan Rivett Emily Riley Dominique Renaud
2016–17 Laurie St-Georges Cynthia St-Georges Meaghan Rivett Emily Riley
2017–18 Laurie St-Georges Cynthia St-Georges Meaghan Rivett Emily Riley Janique Berthelot
2018–19 Laurie St-Georges Lauren Mann Cynthia St-Georges Emily Riley
2019–20 Laurie St-Georges Hailey Armstrong Emily Riley Cynthia St-Georges Isabelle Thiboutot
2020–21 Laurie St-Georges Hailey Armstrong Emily Riley Cynthia St-Georges Florence Boivin
2021–22 Laurie St-Georges Hailey Armstrong Emily Riley Cynthia St-Georges Isabelle Thiboutot
2022–23 Laurie St-Georges Emily Riley Alanna Routledge Kelly Middaugh Émilie Desjardins
2023–24 Laurie St-Georges Jamie Sinclair Emily Riley Kelly Middaugh Marie-France Larouche
2024–25 Laurie St-Georges Jamie Sinclair Emily Riley Lisa Weagle

References

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  1. ^ "Emily Riley Profile". Curling Canada. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Nova Scotia women capture gold at 2018 New Holland Canadian Juniors". Curling Canada. January 21, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  4. ^ "Four-ender paves way to British Columbia tiebreaker victory at New Holland Canadian Juniors". Curling Canada. January 25, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  5. ^ Ben Romsaas (December 3, 2018). "Curl Mesabi Classic another rousing success". Mesabi Tribune. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "2019 Tour Challenge Tier 2 Tiebreakers". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  7. ^ "2020 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts – Final". Curling Québec (in French). Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  8. ^ Alanna Routledge (January 14, 2020). "Dévoilement des équipes Québécoises masculine et féminine". Curling Québec (in French). Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  9. ^ "Meet the Teams: Team Wild Card 2 & Team Quebec". Curling Canada. February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  10. ^ Ryan Horne (February 22, 2021). "'Curling addict' St-Georges making plenty of noise at Scotties". TSN. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Scores, standings, schedule". Sportsnet. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  12. ^ "Howard wins Oakville Fall Classic; Sinclair edges Birt in women's final". TSN. August 29, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "2021 Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  14. ^ "2021 Trials proceess revised". Curling Canada. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  15. ^ Alanna Routledge (January 7, 2022). "Équipe Québec = Équipe St-Georges". Curling Québec. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  16. ^ "2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Standings, schedule and results". Sportsnet. January 28, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  17. ^ "Manitoba wins Canadian Mixed title in front of hometown crowd". Curling Canada. November 11, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  18. ^ "Quebec beats Northern Ontario for third straight mixed curling title". TSN. 12 November 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "Canada scores late, defeats Norway for world mixed curling bronze medal". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  20. ^ "2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  21. ^ "Emily Riley Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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