Selena Njegovan

Selena Njegovan (born January 22, 1992 as Selena Kaatz) is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1] She currently plays third on Team Tracy Fleury.

Selena Njegovan
Born
Selena Kaatz

(1992-01-22) January 22, 1992
Team
Curling clubEast St. Paul CC,
East St. Paul, MB
SkipTracy Fleury
ThirdSelena Njegovan
SecondLiz Fyfe
LeadKristin MacCuish
AlternateJill Officer
Career
Member Association Manitoba
Hearts appearances3 (2016, 2018, 2019)
Top CTRS ranking2nd (2019–20)
Grand Slam victories2 (2016 National, 2019 Masters)

Youth career

Njegovan threw fourth rocks for Team Manitoba at the 2012 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, on a team skipped by Shannon Birchard. The team finished first after the round robin, but lost in the final to Team Alberta, skipped by Jocelyn Peterman. The next season, Njegovan skipped her own team at the Manitoba Junior provincials where she lost to Shannon Birchard's team in the final.[2]

Njegovan played second for the University of Manitoba women's curling team at the 2013 CIS/CCA Curling Championships, on a team skipped by Breanne Meakin. The team went undefeated en route to the championship.

Women's career

Njegovan joined the Kerri Einarson rink in 2013. In their first season, they played in one slam, the 2013 Colonial Square Ladies Classic (not qualifying) and the 2014 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, losing in the final to Team Chelsea Carey. The next season the team again lost in the final of Manitoba Hearts, losing this time to Team Jennifer Jones.

The 2015–16 season would be the breakthrough year for the Einarson rink. The team begun the season by winning the Tier 2 event of the 2015 Tour Challenge. The team finally won the Manitoba Scotties in 2016, and represented Manitoba at the national 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. There, the team would make the playoffs, but would end up losing in the bronze medal game, settling for fourth place. Elsewhere on the World Curling Tour, the team would play in four slams, making it to the semifinals at three events.

The team played in their first Canada Cup in 2016, losing in the semifinals. On the Tour, the team played in five Grand Slams, and would win their first title at the 2016 National. At the 2017 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the team failed to make the playoffs.

The Einarson rink qualified for the 2017 Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials, but would lose in a tiebreaker game. On the tour, the team would win the 2017 Icebreaker at The Granite and would make it to the finals of the 2017 Masters. They also won the 2017 Tour Challenge Tier 2 event once again. They qualified for the first ever Wild Card game at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, where they beat Chelsea Carey for the right to represent "Team Wild Card" that year at the Scotties. They finished the round robin and championship pool with a 9–2 record which qualified them for the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game. They lost to Team Manitoba (Jennifer Jones) but rebounded against Nova Scotia's Mary-Anne Arsenault in the semifinal. They couldn't get by Jones in the final, settling for a silver medal. They finished their season with a semifinal finish at the 2018 Players' Championship and a runner-up finish at the 2018 Champions Cup.

Njegovan would stay with Liz Fyfe and Kristin MacCuish for the 2018-19 curling season but would bring on a new skip, Tracy Fleury for the 2019-2022 Olympic quadrennial.[3] Fleury is from Sudbury and plays as their designated out-of-province curler. The team had a nearly full schedule in Grand Slam events, beginning the season at the Elite 10, where they missed the playoffs after winning just one game. Next, they made it to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Masters, which they followed up by making it to the finals of the 2018 Tour Challenge, where they lost to Rachel Homan. Outside of the Grand Slam tour, they were invited to represent Canada at the second leg of the Curling World Cup, which they finished with a 4-2 record, narrowly missing the final. The following week they were back into a Grand Slam event, the 2018 National, where they won just one game. The following month, the team played in the 2019 Canadian Open, again missing the playoffs. The team found success in provincial playdowns, winning the 2019 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts defeating her old skip Kerri Einarson 13-7 in the final to represent Manitoba at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.[4] A week after provincials, the team played in at the 2019 TSN All-Star Curling Skins Game where they lost to Jennifer Jones by $4,000 in the final. The team did earn $32,500 during the tournament. At the Hearts, Manitoba went 4-3 record in pool play, but lost to British Columbia's Sarah Wark rink in a tiebreaker to get into the championship pool, which eliminated the team from contention. They finished the season off by making it to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Players' Championship.

To start the 2019–20 season, Fleury and her team finished fourth at the 2019 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic. They followed that by winning the 2019 Cargill Curling Training Centre Icebreaker.[5][6] Next they played in the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic where they just squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth seed. They upset Silvana Tirinzoni who was the number one seed 7-5 in the quarterfinal and Rachel Homan 5-4 in the semifinal before losing the final to Jennifer Jones. Two weeks later, they played in the 2019 Colonial Square Ladies Classic where they went undefeated until the final where they came up just short to Homan. Team Fleury had two more playoff finishes at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic and the 2019 Canad Inns Women's Classic, where they lost in the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively. Their next event was the first Grand Slam of the season, the 2019 Masters where they qualified for the playoffs with a 3-1 record. With wins over Elena Stern in the quarterfinals and Anna Hasselborg in the semifinal, Team Fleury made their second Grand Slam final since forming. They would be successful this time, defeating Sayaka Yoshimura to claim the Grand Slam title. The next week, they had a quarterfinal finish at the second Slam of the season, the 2019 Tour Challenge. At the Canada Cup, the Fleury team once again had a successful run, qualifying for the playoffs with a 5-1 record. They downed Chelsea Carey 9-4 in the semifinal before coming up short to Rachel Homan in the final. Team Fleury capped off the 2019 part of the season with a semifinal finish at the 2019 Boost National Grand Slam. This meant they qualified for the playoffs in all 10 of the events they played in to start the season. To start 2020, the Fleury rink along with five other Canadian rinks, represented Canada at the 2020 Continental Cup. Team Canada did not have a good week, losing to the European's by fifteen points. They missed the playoffs for the first time during the whole season when they were knocked out of the triple knockout format at the 2020 Canadian Open. At the 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the provincial championship, Team Fleury lost the semifinal to Jennifer Jones. They did have another chance to qualify for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts through the Wild Card play in game which they also lost to Jones. It would be the team's last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

Personal life

Njegovan is married to fellow curler Connor Njegovan. She is currently a human resources coordinator at for RAPID RTC.[8] Previously at the University of Manitoba, Njegovan majored in accounting.[9]

Grand Slam record

Key
C Champion
F Lost in Final
SF Lost in Semifinal
QF Lost in Quarterfinals
R16 Lost in the round of 16
Q Did not advance to playoffs
T2 Played in Tier 2 event
DNP Did not participate in event
N/A Not a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
Masters SF Q F QF C
Tour Challenge T2 Q T2 F QF
The National Q C Q Q SF
Canadian Open DNP Q Q Q Q
Players' SF DNP SF QF N/A
Champions Cup SF Q F DNP N/A

Former events

Event 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
Elite 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Q
Colonial Square Q DNP N/A N/A N/A N/A

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead
2009–10[10] Alyssa CalvertSelena KaatzKristin MacCuishLindsay Baldock
2010–11 Selena Kaatz (fourth)Alyssa Calvert (skip)Kristin MacCuishLindsay Baldock
2011–12 Shannon BirchardSelena KaatzKristin MacCuishMariah Mondor
2012–13 Selena KaatzBriane MeilleurKristin MacCuishKatherine Doerksen
2013–14 Kerri EinarsonSelena KaatzLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2014–15 Kerri EinarsonSelena KaatzLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2015–16 Kerri EinarsonSelena KaatzLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2016–17 Kerri EinarsonSelena KaatzLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2017–18 Kerri EinarsonSelena KaatzLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2018–19 Tracy FleurySelena NjegovanLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish
2019–20 Tracy FleurySelena NjegovanLiz FyfeKristin MacCuish

References

  1. "Selena Njegovan Profile". World Curling Tour. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  2. "Kaatz hopes winning tradition holds". Winnipeg Sun. January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  3. "Fleury ready for next chapter skipping new Manitoba team". 2018-02-17.
  4. "Fleury tops Einarson for Manitoba Scotties title after furious rally - Sportsnet.ca".
  5. "2019 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic". World Curling Tour. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  6. "2019 Cargill Curling Training Centre Icebreaker". World Curling Tour. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  7. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  8. https://www.curling.ca/files/2019/11/2019-Home-Hardware-Canada-Cup-Media-Guide-online.pdf
  9. "UM Today | Asper School of Business | Asper Co-op Q&A: Selena Kaatz". news.umanitoba.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  10. "Selena Njegovan past teams". Curling Zone. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
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