Jennifer Jones reacts to a shot during her game against Shannon Kleibrink. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)Jennifer Jones has missed out on another chance to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics.
The two-time reigning national champion skip again finished out of the playoff picture at the Canadian curling trials after falling 10-9 in an extra end to Shannon Kleibrink on Thursday afternoon in Edmonton.
The loss dropped Jones to 2-5, well short of the top-three finish needed to make the playoffs in the eight-team tournament.
It's the second consecutive time the Winnipeg skip has exited the Canadian trials early. She was also the reigning Canadian champion back in 2005 when she missed the playoffs in Halifax.
"You've worked three years for this and we came out and things just didn't go our way," Jones said. "Yeah, I want to go to the Olympics, and so I think does every Canadian, but you can't sometimes make things happen."
Kleibrink's victory kept her in the running for a second consecutive Olympic appearance. The 2006 bronze medallist finished the round-robin at 5-2, good for second place and a spot in the semifinal.
The Calgary skip awaits the survivor of a tiebreaker round involving Krista McCarville, Stefanie Lawton and Amber Holland. All three of those women produced clutch victories on Thursday afternoon to get into the tiebreaker with matching 4-3 records.
The winner of the semifinal will meet Cheryl Bernard (6-1) to decide who represents Canada at the Vancouver Games in February.
Bernard, who'd already clinched the top spot and a bye to the final, saw her bid for a perfect round-robin foiled by a 6-5 loss to Lawton. McCarville beat Crystal Webster 6-4, dropping Webster's record to 2-5.
Kelly Scott, like Jones a former world champion, wound up dead last with a record of 1-6 after falling to Holland 10-4.
