Ashton Skrlik

Ashton Skrlik (born May 9, 1999) is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. She currently plays lead on Team Kayla Skrlik.

Career
Skrlik played third for her sister Kayla Skrlik's rink when the team represented Alberta at the 2016 U18 International Curling Championships. There, the team finished with a 3–2 round robin record, just missing the playoffs. She represented Alberta at her first junior nationals at the 2018 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. At the championship, Skrlik and her team of skip Kayla Skrlik, second Hope Sunley and lead Megan Johnson finished with a 4–2 round robin record, enough to qualify for the championship round. They then went 3–1 against the other pool, however, this was not enough to qualify for the playoffs and they finished in fourth place with a 7–3 record. Also in her junior career, Skrlik played third on the Northern Alberta team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Arctic Winter Games.

Out of juniors, Team Skrlik began competing on the World Curling Tour. For the 2018–19 season, they brought on Brenna Bilassy as their new lead, replacing Johnson. Of their three events played, they reached the quarterfinals of the Avonair Cash Spiel and the Boundary Ford Curling Classic. Skrlik then left her sister's rink for her last year of junior eligibility before rejoining at lead for the 2020–21 season. The team also included third Selena Sturmay and second Brittany Tran. They were unable to play in any events, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the abbreviated season, Sturmay left the team and was replaced by Geri-Lynn Ramsay at third. The team was able to find immediate success by reaching the semifinals of the Alberta Curling Series: Leduc event. They also made the semifinals of the Ladies Alberta Open and were finalists at the Alberta Curling Series: Thistle event to Germany's Daniela Jentsch. In December 2021, they qualified for the 2022 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts by defeating Lindsay Bertsch in the final qualifier. At provincials, the team finished in last place with a 1–6 record. Back on the tour, they reached the final of the Alberta Curling Tour Championship where they lost to Abby Marks. Team Skrlik rounded out their season at the 2022 Best of the West where they failed to reach the playoffs with a 1–2 record.

Team Skrlik reached the playoffs in two of their first three events during the 2022–23 season but did not advance past the quarterfinal round. The team played in the 2022 Tour Challenge Tier 2 slam event where they lost in a tiebreaker to Kristy Watling. At the 2022 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, Team Skrlik qualified undefeated through the A side before immediately losing in the quarters to Jennifer Jones. At the Ladies Alberta Open, they lost their opening match before winning six straight games en route to claiming their first tour title, defeating the Casey Scheidegger rink in the final. In the new year, the team competed in the 2023 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which they qualified for through their Excel Points ranking. Team Skrlik was dominant through the round robin, going a perfect 7–0 which included wins over Casey Scheidegger, Kelsey Rocque and Selena Sturmay. This qualified them directly for the provincial final where they faced Team Scheidegger. The game went back and forth, with Skrlik making a highlight reel double takeout in the tenth end to score two and win the game 9–8. With the win, Team Skrlik represented Alberta at the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts where they missed the playoffs with a 4–4 record. At the Hearts, the team made history, claiming to be the first "majority BIPOC" team to play at the Hearts (the Skrliks are half Japanese, and Tran is half Vietnamese). They again ended their season at the Best of the West where they lost in the semifinals to Kelsey Rocque, skipping the Beth Peterson rink.

Personal life
Skrlik's sister Kayla Skrlik is the skip of her team. She is currently a chemistry student at Mount Royal University. Skrlik is half Japanese.