Kelowna, February 20, 2012 (ISN) - Dennis Graber of Prince George and Penny Shantz of Nanaimo both captured gold this past weekend at the 2012 Tim Hortons BC Senior Curling Championships presented by Flight Centre in Kelowna.

Dennis Graber and his Prince George team of Brian Windsor, Garnet Boese and David Johnston finished at 6-1 after the round-robin, earning a direct spot in Sunday's final. They faced Royal City's Doug Meger who had earlier defeated Brian Gessner in the semi-final. The teams were tied at 1 after 5 ends of play, but steals of 2 in the 8th and 9th ends gave Graber the advantage and a 7-4 victory.

Penny Shantz and her Nanaimo team of Debbie Jones-Walker, Deborah Pulak and Shirley Wong also finished the round-robin at 6-1, in a tie with Salmon Arm's Sandra Jenkins. Shantz earned the spot in the final thanks to her round-robin win over Jenkins. Jenkins then fell to Langley's Karen Lepine rink in the semi-final. A steal of 1 in the 9th end gave Shantz a 2 point lead heading home. Lepine only managed to score a single, leaving Shantz with the 10-9 win.

Graber & Shantz now advance to the 2012 Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Abbotsford, BC, March 17-25, 2012.

Senior Men:

• Dennis Graber (Prince George) 6-1
• Brian Gessner (Royal City) 5-2
• Doug Meger (Royal City) 4-3
• Ken Watson (Richmond) 4-3
• Wayne Harris (Comox) 3-4
• Rob Koffski (Kelowna) 3-4
• Ken McHargue (Sparwood) 2-5
• Ralph Will (Sparwood) 1-6

Senior Women:

• Penny Shantz (Nanaimo) 6-1
• Sandra Jenkins (Salmon Arm) 6-1
• Karen Lepine (Langley) 5-2
• Kathy Smiley (Royal City) 5-2
• Marilyn Berry (Invermere) 3-4
• Rhonda Lee Bedard (Trail) 2-5
• Cheryl Wyatt (Terrace) 1-6
• Gwen Clark (Langley) 0-7

Full event coverage can be found on www.playdowns.com