A British Columbia women鈥檚 curling team won top honours at the recent national masters competition in Saguenay, Quebec.

The team, with members in four communities around the province, consists of skip Penny Shants of Vernon, third Cindy Curtain of Penticton, second Danielle Shaughnessy of Kelowna and lead Donna Mychaluk of Langley.

For Shantz and Curtain, this was their third consecutive year winning at the national level. However, the members of the B.C. team have known each other on and off the ice for many years, Shantz said. She and Mychaluk have played against each other many times in the past 12 years.

Coming together for the national competition, the team members played together at a bonspiel in Winfield and at the B.C. provincials in Cranbrook before heading to Quebec.

The national masters competition was held from April 7 to 13 and featured players from around the country.

Those competing are more than 60 years of age and have all competed provincially and nationally in the past. Many have played together, or in competition with each other in past years, Schantz said.

The masters curling competition in Quebec had a round-robin format, followed by the playoffs.

In the round-robin portion, the B.C. team lost to Ontario. The two teams met again in the semifinals, with the other playoff challenge between the Alberta and Manitoba teams.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 just a great way to end the season,鈥� Shants said of the win.

For next year, the teammates have not yet decided whether they will compete together for another B.C. victory at the women鈥檚 masters level.