Christine M. "Chris" Scalena, (née Pidzarko; born c. 1953) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hall of fame curler from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. She was known for much of her competitive career as Chris More. Scalena is a three-time provincial junior champion, winning in 1972, 1973 and 1974. She skipped Manitoba in three

Canadian Junior Curling Championships The Canadian Junior Curling Championships is an annual curling tournament held to determine the best junior-level curling team in Canada. Junior level curlers must be under the age of 21 as of June 30 in the year prior to the tournament. The even ...

, winning the event in 1972 and 1974. In 1973, she finished 2nd place. In 1974, she defeated British Columbia's Linda Tweedie (Moore) in a tie-break to win the championship.

Titles

Scalena won four provincial women's titles in her career: 1978, 1979, 1984 and 1989. In 1978, she played third for her twin sister

Cathy ''Cathy'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, drawn by Cathy Guisewite from 1976 until 2010. The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life—food, love, family, and work. The strip gently pokes ...

's rink, and the team won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. In 1979, she skipped Manitoba at the 1979 Macdonald Lassies Championship, where she lost in the final to British Columbia's

Lindsay Sparkes Lindsay E. Sparkes (born August 6, 1950 in North Vancouver, British Columbia as Lindsay Davie) is a Canadian curler. She is a three-time Canadian champion, world champion and Olympic demonstration champion. In 1976, Sparkes and ...

. In 1984, Scalena returned to the national championship playing third for

Connie Laliberte Connie Laliberte (born October 21, 1960) is a Canadian curler from Manitoba and world champion. In 2019, Laliberte was named the tenth greatest Canadian curler in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers. Championships ...

at the

1984 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 1984 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was played February 25 to March 3 at the Charlottetown Forum in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 ...

. The team defeated Nova Scotia's

Colleen Jones Colleen Patricia Jones (born December 16, 1959) is a Canadian curler and television personality. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an un ...

in the final, sending the team to the 1984 World Women's Curling Championship, representing Canada. At the 1984 Worlds, the team won the gold medal, after defeating Switzerland's Brigitte Kienast in the final. Scalena made her final appearance at the Hearts in 1989, this time skipping the Manitoba team. At the

1989 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 1989 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 25 to March 4, 1989 at the Kelowna Memorial Arena in Kelowna, British Columbia. The total attendance for the week was 19,436. The de ...

, Scalena had another successful tournament, finishing first after the round robin, only to lose to the defending champion

Heather Houston Heather E. Houston (born February 4, 1959)''Ottawa Citizen, 1 Feb 1988, pg B8, "Rookie skip wins" (Houston was 28) is a Canadian curler and world champion. She is from Red Rock, Ontario and curls out of the Fort William Curling Club i ...

rink in the final. In addition to her national women's titles, Scalena won a provincial mixed title in 1983, playing third for Bill Carey. Scalena was inducted into the

Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario. The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose induc ...

in 1988. As of 2014, Scalena still curls recreationally at the Thistle Curling Club in Winnipeg.

References

External links

*
CCA Hall of Fame Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scalena, Chris Canadian women curlers World curling champions Living people Curlers from Winnipeg Canadian women's curling champions Canadian people of Ukrainian descent 1950s births Twin sportspeople