Eight months after qualifying for the national mixed curling championships, the Chilliwack rink of Doug Marshall is finally ready to rock and roll.

Marshall, third Lisa Deputan, second Darren Jarvis and lead Janet Klebe will travel to Sudbury, Ont., on Thursday to represent British Columbia at the highest level of Canadian mixed curling.

The Marshall rink claimed the provincial crown in March, and have spent much of the time since preparing for the event, which runs from Nov. 12 to 19.

Or at least three of them have. Marshall has battled a knee injury, which has limited his time on the ice. He's back in the hack, now, but 13 games over six days will put his leg to the test.

"They've been working hard so hopefully it will pay dividends once we get there," Marshall said before a Tuesday night league game. "I hope my knee holds up."

The team does have high-level experience: Marshall has competed in the National Firefighter's Championship and Klebe has curled as a third at the National Senior Women's Championships. But the mixed championships will be the biggest tournament any of them have curled at, so they hope to have fun, as well as success.

"We want to enjoy it," said Marshall. "It's our first time as a team [going] to a national event."

But while the competition will be tough, Marshall figures his team has the ability to compete.

Klebe, he said, is skilled at throwing lead rocks but could third most other rinks. Jarvis is a talented hit man, and Deputan throws a mean draw.

"Hopefully, they'll make it easy for her," says Marshall. "There'll be a lot of good teams there so it'll be tough."

But not impossible.

"I think our goal is to just curl well and see what happens," he said. "If we can curl as well as we did in Prince Rupert [at the provincial championships] then we should be fine."

Marshall and company open the event Saturday at 10 a.m. against New Brunswick.

- To follow their progress, visit www.curling.ca/championships/mixed or check the Times on Tuesday and Thursday for updates.

tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com