Williston Observer

April 22, 2010

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

With new confidence in their bats, the Champlain Valley Union High softball sluggers will swing the iron Thursday afternoon against Missisquoi Valley Union High while trying for a second straight win.

The game begins at 4:30 p.m.

Coach Corinna Hussey’s nine evened their season record at 1-1 Tuesday with a 21-14 home triumph over South Burlington High.

But going into the bottom of the sixth, the CVU advantage was a shaky 13-12.

Bong! Crash! Smash!

Five straight hits, including two RBI shots by Cassidy Maglaris and Heather McLaughlin, helped boost the lead to a more unassailable nine runs. Pitcher Rachel Distler then set down the visitors with two hits and pair of runs in the top of the seventh to polish off the victory.

McLaughlin socked a pair of doubles plus a triple in the hit-fest, while Maglaris boomed for two doubles. McLaughlin had a total of five hits, including a triple and two doubles.

Distler shared pitching duties with starter Anna Supple.

Monday in Jericho Center, the Redhawks fell 8-2 to Mount Mansfield Union. McLaughlin provided the offensive highlight with a home run.

Distler pitched five innings of relief and struck out 14.

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April 22, 2010

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

The sun came out Monday and the Champlain Valley Union High boys lacrosse team made sure there was nothing but blue skies on their record in a 12-8 home trimming of visiting Spaulding High of Barre.

The contest was postponed from Saturday by rain.

“Essex High comes next,” CVU coach Dave Trevithick said.

The powerful Hornets were due in after press deadline Wednesday afternoon and expected to give the 4-0 Redhawks their biggest test of the young season.

Following that clash, CVU will be in St. Albans on Saturday for a 3 p.m. effort against the Bellows Free Academy Bobwhites and on the road again Tuesday against Middlebury Union High at 4 p.m.

In Monday’s triumph, the Redhawks bolted to 7-1 (halftime) and 9-2 leads before Spaulding, 1-0 coming in, made it somewhat close through the middle stages of the final reel thanks to a five-goal outburst by speedy junior attacker Tory Chouinard.

“We kind of let down on defense,” Trevithick said.

A couple of big plays prevented Spaulding from turning the contest into a burning crisis for CVU.

After the Crimson Tide had closed to within 9-4 with two straight scores and was threatening further mischief late in the third quarter, senior captain and defenseman Cully Milikin stole the ball deep in CVU territory; moments later, with 2:58 left in the period, Nick Hart fired a blue darter from the left side to end the Tide string. It was his second goal to go with a pair of assists.

But the persistent visitors then notched the first three tallies of the final reel to close within 10-7 with 7:32 remaining in regulation.

Jake Marston came front and center. Taking a faceoff out of a scrum at midfield, the CVU junior worked his way to the back of the Spaulding cage, made a quick move to the front and launched his second goal of the game (11 for the season) to give the Redhawks some added breathing room.

Moments later, at 6:52, Nathaniel Wells popped his second score after a Hart assist for a 12-7 edge.

Spaulding’s final pointer came with 20 seconds to go.

Milikin agreed that the Redhawks might have relaxed a tad once they got the big leads.

Helping to get those leads were Lawrence Dee (three goals), Taylor Gingras (one goal, two assists), Peter Hiser (two goals) and Derek Goodwin (goal).

The Hawks out shot the Tide 26-17.

Gingras, who also has 11 goals in the Redhawks’ four games, notched five last Thursday in CVU’s 11-6 home victory over South Burlington High. Dee notched a goal to go with five helpers, while Marston potted two scores. Hart, Wells and Hiser added one each.

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April 22, 2010

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

The Champlain Valley Union High girls lacrosse team took a 1-2 record into Wednesday’s home match with rival Essex High.

The game was set to be played after press deadline.

After that contest, it will be two weeks before the Redhawks resume competition with a game at Burlington High on May 5.

On Monday, CVU gave undefeated Mount Anthony Union a struggle before bowing to the Patriots by a 16-9 tally. It was a commendable improvement over their first meeting, a 17-2 blowout by the Patriots at their Bennington field on April 10.

Junior Amanda Kinneston found the net for six goals and added three assists for CVU, which is getting its offense into gear.

Kinneston hiked her season total to nine tallies.

Also scoring for the Redhawks were Erika Gobeille (two goals) and Lucy Halvorson.

Sophia Steinhoff had another busy day in the CVU cage, where she registered 18 stops. The Hawks were outgunned 34-14 in shots.

Steinhoff was even busier last Wednesday, when she made a whopping 27 saves as the Redhawks scored a 12-10 victory at Rutland High (1-1-1).

Sydney Beldock broke loose on the offensive end for four goals in pacing the victory. Kinneston added two goals and a pair of assists while Halvorson, Kelsey Barrett, Michaela Kiley, Brenna Gorman, Sara Riordon and Corrinne Vien added singletons. Gorman also passed off for two assists.

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Redhawks to host Thunderbirds on Thursday

April 22, 2010

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

With a hard-earned entry into the victory column secured Tuesday, the 1-1 Champlain Valley Union High baseball aggregation was looking forward to a second straight home contest Thursday when Missisquoi Valley Union High comes calling at 4:30 p.m.

Their bats silenced Monday by Mount Mansfield Union’s Sam Spencer’s 9-0 no-hitter in Richmond, the Redhawks used scarce but timely hits Tuesday to nip visiting South Burlington High. CVU won 3-2 on a Drew Nick’s two-out, screaming double down the left field line, which chased home Alec Zullo from first with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“I was just trying to get a hit,” said Nick, who had been re-inserted into the batting order after being relieved from his starting pitching chores after completing seven frames.

The victory blast was Nick’s second hit of the game. He also rapped a first inning single that sent in Zullo, who had singled and stolen second. Zullo had all three CVU runs, also crossing home plate in the sixth on a throwing error after he reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second, his second swipe of the contest.

Zullo’s first inning single — he was batting in the second slot — was the Redhawks’ initial safety of the campaign.

In all, CVU had just four hits off Rebels pitcher Ben Jenkins. Andy Leckerling’s seventh inning single was the other bop.

Nick scattered seven hits, including a homer and RBI double, in his seven innings of hurling. He whiffed five and hit a batter but allowed no walks.

A crucial time came in the bottom of the second. After Popper Hanson led off with a circuit clout to tie the game at 1, South Burlington loaded the bases on a hit batter, single and infield error. Situation grim.

No sweat for Nick. The sophomore slinger then struck out the next two batters and got the third on a fly to Zullo in left.

Nick then kept the Rebels from doing further damage until the seventh, when a leadoff single, sacrifice and double tied the game.

Ryan Machavern took over in the eighth and gave up a pair of singles but emerged unscathed.

After the game, Nick got a hero’s chilling: a cooler filled with ice cubes over the head while he was chatting with media representatives.

As for Monday’s no-hit effort by the Cougars’ Spencer, Nick said the MMU pitcher “was hitting his spots. We hit the ball pretty well a few times but right at someone.”

Head coach Tim Albertson noted that Tuesday’s win was commensurate with the Redhawks’ slogan of “grind it out.”

CVU will hit the road Saturday for an 11 a.m. clash at Rice Memorial High in South Burlington and will travel to Vergennes on Tuesday for a game at 4:30 p.m.

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April 22, 2010

By Stephanie Choate

Observer staff

Kenyan activist Dr. Karambu Ringera spoke with Champlain Valley Union High School students and community members this week about her efforts to promote grassroots development in growing nations.

“You are the future leaders in your country and future leaders in the world,” she told a group of students Tuesday. “I want to challenge you … go and listen to the people, see what they perceive to be their challenges and needs and create solutions with them.”

Ringera heads International Peace Initiatives, or IPI, which works toward solutions for disease, conflict and poverty. She recently launched a community home for orphans in Meru, Kenya, which she hopes will represent a new approach to development.

“We’re trying to create a solution from the bottom up, from the voice of the people affected by the problems,” she said.

Ringera said the welfare-type model that most orphanages operate under is not working. Children become dependent on outside sources and often end up on the street once they leave the orphanage.

The problem extends to other aid projects, she said. Since the projects were not developed with the involvement of local people, the projects end soon after aid workers leave.

“The only way to help people is to work with them and identify their problems and solutions,” she told students. “Unless people create solutions themselves, they’re not going to be sustainable.”

CVU connections

Ringera’s visit, one of several across the country, was sponsored by CVU students Ditra Backup and Molly Vatis.

Backup and Vatis went to Kenya in August as part of their Graduation Challenge, a learning project required of all CVU seniors. In Kenya, the two met Ringera and worked in the community home, called Kithoka Amani Community Home.

“The experiences that touched me the most were during the time that I spent with the kids,” Backup said. “Every day there would be something little they would do that would warm my heart or change my perspective of myself or the world in some way.”

Ringera came to the United States to talk about her school, and also to encourage high school and college students to come to Kenya and volunteer.

Backup said several students have already expressed interest in fund-raising or travelling to Kenya as a result of Ringera’s visit.

“I can already see the impact it’s had and the good it’s done, which is just incredible for me,” Backup said.

Vatis called her experience in Kenya “absolutely incredible and life changing.” She urged fellow students, teachers, and community members to find a cause they feel strongly about, in another country or their own community, and get involved.

“Every single person in the world can do something to create change,” Vatis wrote in an e-mail. “It’s important that everyone recognize their responsibility to take action, for we are all global citizens and human beings and we have the power to make a difference.”

Work in Kenya

Ringera’s goal is to make Kithoka Amani Community Home self-sustaining in the next three to five years, creating projects that will help students learn to provide for themselves and raise money locally.

Students grow vegetables and raise animals, and each student has his or her own fruit tree. The students keep 30 percent of profits from the sale of animals or produce they tend. Each student has his or her own bank account, which teaches how to save.

“That way, they are responsible for sustaining themselves,” Ringera said. “We are creating their livelihood together, and they have a role to play.

The home teaches students skills, including agriculture, animal husbandry and jewelry-making.

“We’re using cottage industry as a way of teaching children skills they can benefit from in the future,” Ringera said.

The training shows the community, as well as the children, that youngsters are valuable members of society, not liabilities, Ringera said.

“We need to show the community that the children are valuable,” she said. “They can do something to benefit society, so society stops discriminating against them and excluding them.”

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