ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT
B Section
THURSDAY, Â JULY Â 23, Â 2015
MATT DICKERSON
SPORTS
ALSO IN THIS SECTION:
t 4DIPPM /FXT t -FHBM /PUJDFT
Posts  from  Alaska  Part  1:  The  yurts “I  want  to  stay  in  a  yurt.â€?  That’s  what  my  wife  Deborah  told  me.  The  comment  did  not  come  out  of  the  blue.  Two  years  ago  I  went  on  a  research  trip  to  Alaska.  It  was  the  summer  of  the  graduation  of  my  oldest  son,  Thomas,  from  Saint  Mi- chael’s  College.  So  I  added  a  week  to  the  end  of  my  research  trip,  and  took  Thomas  with  me  as  his  gradu- ation  present.  We  backpacked,  ¿VKHG ELNHG DQG VDZ 'DKOÂśV VKHHS We  also  went  on  a  three-Ânight  sea- kayaking  trip  in  Kachemak  Bay  near  Homer,  and  stayed  in  a  yurt  at  Right  Beach.  I  told  my  wife  where  we  stayed  and  showed  her  pictures  of  the  yurt.  I  showed  her  lots  of  other  pictures,  too.  Mountains.  Glaciers.  Eagles.  Otters.  Seals.  Moose.  More  mountains.  Salmon.  She  focused  on  the  yurt.  That’s  when  she  made  her  proclamation. “Why  do  you  want  to  stay  in  a  yurt?â€?  I  asked. “I  like  the  sound  of  the  word  ‘yurt’,â€?  she  said.  “Yurt  is  a  cool  word.â€?  She  paused.  And  then  added,  “Your  yurt  had  a  wood  stove.  And  it’s  a  lot  bigger  than  a  tent.â€? Yurts  are  also  romantic.  They  came  from  Mongolia,  where  they  are  used  as  dwellings  by  nomadic  peoples,  and  are  traditionally  made  with  skins  and  fur  pelts.  Of  course,  modern  Alaskan  yurts  are  a  little  dif- ferent.  They  are  placed  on  perma- nent  wooden  platforms  in  state  and  national  parks.  You  have  to  pay  and  reserve  them  during  busy  seasons.  They  have  wooden  bunks  as  well  (See  Dickerson,  Page  3B)
Sports BRIEFS
Threesome  wins  in  Thursday  golf
MIDDLEBURY  —  The  trio  of  Joe  Bartlett,  Scott  Bennett  and  Rod  Ebby  prevailed  in  the  July  16  edition  of  Bill  Davidson  Thursday  Afternoon  Golf  at  the  Ralph  Myhre  Golf  Course  in  Middlebury.  Taking  second  in  the  weekly  best- ball  competition  was  the  threesome  of  Mike  Adams,  Jeff  Stetson  and  Dave  Foran,  and  the  foursome  of  George  Cady,  Rick  Wheeler,  Deem  6FKRHQIHOG DQG *OHQ :HKUZHLQ ÂżQ- ished  third.  The  day’s  low-Ânet  scorer  was  Ed  Sommers,  and  Ebby  was  the  low-Ânet  scorer  on  the  Par  3  holes.  Ralph  Myhre’s  annual  Dud  Phinney  Member-ÂGuest  Tournament  will  run  from  this  Thursday  through  Sunday. Â
Voyageurs  to  host  lax  playoff  game  in  Middlebury MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Quebec  Senior  Lacrosse  League  playoffs  are  coming  on  Sunday  to  Middlebury’s  Memorial  Sports  Center.  %HFDXVH RI D VFKHGXOLQJ FRQĂ€LFW DW the  Vermont  Voyageurs’  home  arena  —  the  Essex  Skating  Facility  —  WKH\ ZLOO SOD\ WKH ÂżUVW JDPH RI WKHLU EHVW WKUHH RXW RI ÂżYH ER[ ODFURVVH OHDJXH VHPLÂżQDO VHULHV LQ 0LGGOH- bury  on  Sunday  at  4  p.m.  The  second-Âseeded  Voyageurs  will  take  on  the  No.  3  Kahnawake  Mohawks,  with  a  berth  in  the  QSLL  ¿QDO DW VWDNH 7KH WHDPV DUH VHW WR meet  on  Saturday  in  Essex  in  the  ¿QDO JDPH RI WKH UHJXODU VHDVRQ with  the  Voyageurs,  winners  of  four  straight,  standing  at  9-Â5  and  the  Mo- hawks  at  8-Â6. 7KH UHVW RI WKH VHPLÂżQDO VHULHV will  alternate  between  the  Mohawks’  home  base,  a  reservation  near  Cha- teauguay,  Quebec,  and  the  Essex  6NDWLQJ )DFLOLW\ 9R\DJHXUVÂś VHPLÂż- nal  home  games  in  Essex  are  set  for  Sunday,  Aug.  2,  at  2  p.m.,  and,  if  a  Game  5  is  necessary,  Sunday,  Aug.  9,  at  2  p.m. The  Ottawa  Axemen  (13-Â2)  and  the  Kahnawake  Tomahawks  (0-Â15)  ZLOO PHHW LQ WKH RWKHU VHPLÂżQDO VH- ries.  The  winner  of  the  QSLL  will  represent  the  league  at  the  Presi- dent’s  Cup  competition  in  St.  Cath- erine’s,  Ontario,  from  Aug.  31  to  Sept.  6.   (See  Voyagers,  Page  3B)
Champs  nab  tight  victory  in  home  pool
Legion nets Ă€UVW YLFWRU\ season ends By  ANDY  KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Addison  County  American  Legion  baseball  team  on  Sunday  concluded  its  2015  campaign  by  dropping  a  double- header  to  visiting  Franklin  County,  but  not  before  a  split  of  a  Thursday  twin  bill  at  Montpelier  gave  AC  its  ¿UVW YLFWRU\ RI WKH VXPPHU On  Thursday,  AC  (1-Â17)  dropped  the  opener  to  Montpelier,  12-Â5,  be- fore  breaking  through  to  win  the  nightcap,  13-Â8.  Those  games  were  originally  scheduled  in  June.  On  Sunday,  Franklin  swept  Ad- dison,  9-Â3  and  5-Â2.  In  between,  AC  forfeited  two  Saturday  road  games  at  Orleans/Essex/Caledonia  because  its  coaching  staff  believed  the  team  did  not  have  enough  pitchers  to  play  six  games  in  four  days. In  the  Thursday  win,  AC  took  a  ¿UVW LQQLQJ OHDG RI 'HYRQ .LP- ball,  Aaron  Smith  and  Chris  Leach  singled,  and  walks  to  Dylan  Ray- mond  and  Greg  Whitney,  a  Bryce  Burrell  groundout,  and  a  walk  to  A.J.  Benway  produced  the  runs. Winning  pitcher  Aaron  Smith  al- ORZHG D SDLU RI ÂżUVW LQQLQJ UXQV (See  Baseball,  Page  3B)
t $MBTTJĂŤFET t 3FBM &TUBUF
THE  MIDDLEBURY  MARLINS  swim  team  won  last  Thursday’s  meet  against  St.  Albans  by  a  score  of  273-Â164.  Aidan  Chance,  top,  won  the  10-Âand-Âunder  backstroke  and  placed  in  two  other  individual  races.  Also  pictured  are  Mischa  Yurista,  above,  and  Emersyn  Brookman,  left. Independent  photos/Trent  Campbell
Marlins’  victory  equals  winning  record By  ANDY  KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  Marlins  defeated  St.  Albans,  275- 164,  at  the  Middlebury  town  pool  on  -XO\ WR ÂżQLVK WKH &KDPSODLQ 9DOOH\ Swim  League  regular  season  with  a  4-Â3  record,  which  according  to  team  RUJDQL]HUV LV WKH 0DUOLQVÂś ÂżUVW ZLQQLQJ mark  in  several  years. The  Marlins  will  hope  to  carry  that  momentum  into  this  weekend’s  CVSL  championship  meet,  which  will  be  hosted  by  the  Town  of  Essex  Swim  Team.  The  Vermont  summer  swim-Â
ming  championship  meet  will  follow  the  next  weekend  at  the  Upper  Valley  Aquatic  Center  in  White  River  Junc- tion. Last  Thursday  vs.  St.  Albans,  the  Marlins  dominated  the  relays,  winning  12  of  15  contested  events  and  earning  an  84-Â21  edge  in  those  races  alone.  Four  Marlins  also  prevailed  in  multiple  races.  Ellie  Ross  and  Oliver  Podushnick  won  three  12-Âand-Âunder  events  each,  Courtney  White  won  three  U-Â18  races,  and  Aislynne  McGill  won  two  U-Â8  events.
Marlins  scoring  points  for  their  team  ‡ 8 JLUOV 5DFKHO 0HUULOO ZLWK WRS WKUHH ¿QLVKHV LQ LQGLYLGXDO ‡ 8 ER\V 'HYRQ .HDUQV races  were:  ‡ 8 JLUOV :KLWH BUTTERFLY Kess  Moulton. ‡ 8 JLUOV /XF\ 3RGXVFKQLFN ‡ 8 ER\V -DFRE %URRNPDQ 25.43.  BACKSTROKE ‡ 8 JLUOV 1RUD :RRWWHQ ‡ 8 JLUOV 0F*LOO 17.47;͞  2.  Natalie  Rockwell. Emersyn  Brookman. ‡ 8 ER\V $LGDQ &KDQFH ‡ 8 ER\V &RRSHU 4XLQQ Connor  McNamara. 30.13. ‡ 8 JLUOV +ROO\ 6WDDWV ‡ 8 JLUOV 5RFNZHOO 2.  Kaitlyn  McNamara. ‡ 8 ER\V &KDQFH ‡ 8 ER\V 2 3RGXVKQLFN ‡ 8 JLUOV 5RVV ,Y\ (See  Marlins,  Page  2B) 34.25;͞  2.  Thomas  Denton.
By  ANDY  KIRKALDY VERGENNES  —  The  Vergennes  Champs  ended  their  Champlain  Val- ley  Swim  League  regular  season  on  a  high  note  on  July  16,  edging  visiting  Burlington  Country  Club,  256-Â226,  in  a  meet  that  team  organizers  said  was  close  throughout.  The  Champs’  11-Â7  edge  in  contest- ed  relay  races  provided  a  decisive  28  points  of  their  overall  30-Âpoint  mar- gin  of  victory.  The  Champs  also  received  three  victories  from  Leah  Croke  in  14-Âand- under  girls’  races,  two  wins  from  Anna  Rakowski  in  U-Â12  girls’  races,  and  two  wins  from  Ethan  Croke  in  U-Â8  boys’  events. The  Champs  will  be  looking  to  build  on  that  success  during  this  weekend’s  CVSL  championship  meet,  which  will  be  hosted  by  the  Town  of  Essex  Swim  Team.  The  Ver- mont  summer  championship  meet  comes  next  on  the  following  week- end  at  the  Upper  Valley  Aquatic  Cen- ter  in  White  River  Junction. (See  Champs,  Page  2B)
Mt.  Abe  Little  League  stars  enjoy  tourney :LWK UHLQIRUFHPHQWV WHDP PDNHV ÂżQDO By  ANDY  KIRKALDY round-Ârobin  round  and  three  losers- SHELBURNE  —  The  Mount  bracket  contests  in  the  double-Âelim- Abraham  9-  and  10-Âyear-Âold  Little  ination  phase  Mount  Abe  had  to  win  League  all-Âstar  team  came  up  short  WR UHDFK WKH ÂżQDO 7KRPSVRQ QRWHG of  a  district  title  in  the  team  prevailed  June  and  July  com- in  four  consecutive  petition,  but  won  six  “It was the must-Âwin  games. games  and  reached  four straight “It  was  the  four  the  championship  elimination games straight  elimination  game  for  what  team  that they won games  that  they  won  RIÂżFLDOV EHOLHYH LV WKH that  impressed  me  that impressed ÂżUVW WLPH HYHU the  greatest  with  this  Although  the  ath- me the greatest team,  and  most  from  letes  competed  under  with this team, being  behind  at  some  the  Mount  Abe  ban- and most from point,â€?  he  said.  “They  ner,  the  team  also  being behind at just  would  not  give  featured  three  play- some point. They up.â€? ers  from  Middlebury  The  team  members  Area  Little  League  just would not were  Lucas  Allen,  towns,  two  from  give up.â€? Starksboro;Íž  Norman  Cornwall  and  one  Monkton;Íž  — Team Manager Benoit,  from  Salisbury. Tommie Thompson Chance  Denecker,  Team  manager  Bristol;Íž  Ian  Funke,  Tommie  Thompson  Monkton;Íž   Joe  Gra- said  all-Âstars  from  a  total  of  eight  ]LDGHL /LQFROQ $GDP 0DQVÂżHOG towns  quickly  bonded,  something  Starksboro;Íž  Dalton  Rheaume,  Salis- that  made  a  difference  as  the  tourna- bury;Íž  Caleb  Russell,  Starksboro;Íž  ment  progressed.  Ethan  Thompson,  Lincoln;Íž  Jack  “The  boys  all  came  together,â€?  Wallace,  Cornwall;Íž  Bradley  Wells,  THE  MOUNT  ABRAHAM  9-  and  10-Âyear-Âold  Little  League  all-Âstar  team  earned  six  wins  on  their  way  to  the  Thompson  said. Starksboro;Íž  and  Tim  Whitney  Jr.,  district  championship  game  earlier  this  month,  but  ultimately  fell  to  Williston. Counting  the  last  game  of  the  (See  Little  League,  Page  3B) Courtesy  photo