# # # As Vermont students returned to campus this week, Rep. Peter Welch held a roundtable Wednesday morning to discuss college affordability and gather input about pending legislation that could revamp the nation’s financial aid system.Welch was joined at the roundtable, which was held at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, by students and higher education officials from throughout Vermont. The group focused its discussion on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221), which passed the House Education and Labor Committee this summer and which is expected to come to a vote in the House this fall.“Throughout Vermont, students and parents are struggling to afford college. While federal financial aid programs help many Vermonters pay their tuition bills, many more still cannot afford this most important investment,” Welch said. “As Congress weighs this comprehensive legislation, it is important for me to hear Vermonters’ feedback to ensure that we pass a bill that expands access and improves affordability.”H.R. 3221 is broad-ranging legislation that would increase the maximum size of Pell Grants, expand access to Perkins Loans, convert all new federal student lending to direct loans, create a new Community College Grant Program and simplify federal student loan applications.Participants in Welch’s forum included Tim Drew, a Community College of Vermont student, and Jessica Grout, a senior at Vermont Technical College. Representatives from the following organizations and institutions also took part: Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Vermont Technical College, the University of Vermont, Champlain College, Norwich University, Union Institute and University, New England Culinary Institution, College of St. Joseph, Vermont Law School, Marlboro College, Goddard College, Burlington College, St. Michael’s College, Johnson State and Southern Vermont College.Source: Welch’s office.
Klock got fourth place in the 1,500-meter run in 5:12.92 as Mia Delap was sixth in the 100 hurdles. Marcellus had Violet Grieb get fourth place in the triple jump and finish fifth in the 400 hurdles.J-E’s boys won the 4×800 relay as Derek Quigley, Michael Bennick, Lee Jewell and Kenny Williams went 8:39.70 and no one else broke the nine-minute mark.Nate Williams, Matt Sheldon, Aiden Lewis and Logan Kinney paired up for the Eagles to win the 4×100 in 47 seconds flat to Oneida’s 47.24. J-E also was third in the 4×400 in a season-best 3:38.68.Marion Quigley was not caught in the 110 high hurdles, winning in 15.47 seconds, nearly half a second ahead of the field. Kinney took fourth in the 200 in 24.17 seconds and Rick Rauss threw the discus 90’5” to finish fifth.The Skaneateles boys had Caleb Bender, Matt Persampieri, Joe Norris and Josh Reed finish second in the 4×800 in 9:00.42 to J-E, with the Lakers fifth in the 4×400 in 48.90 seconds.Nicola Kunz, in 1:01.38, edged Nick Paciorek (1:01.47) for third place in the 400 hurdles, with Kunz fifth in the 110 hurdles. Ryan Willcox unleashed a fifth-place triple jump of 36’7 ¼”and Joe Norris was sixth in the 800.Marcellus had its best finish from Mason Grieb, who got fifth place in the 400 hurdles with 1:01.61 as Peter McCaffrey was sixth in the triple jump with 36’1 ½”.Westhill and West Genesee would flourish in their own ways during the East Syracuse Minoa Girls Invitational, with the Warriors finishing third behind Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool and the Wildcats tying for seventh place.Lennah Abraham gave Westhill a win in the discus, throwing it 101’8”, while Ashley Heffernan topped 9 feet to win the pole vault because she had fewer misses than Marcellus’ Julianna Szczech.Heffernan also was second in the 100 hurdles in 16.40 seconds, with Angie Mesa-Espinosa second in the 200 in 26.69 seconds and fourth in the 100. Ashley Bolesh was fourth in the 400 sprint in 1:01.70 and Haylei Coolican fifth in the 1,500.WG won the 4×800 as Natalie Buckhout, Mia Mitchell, Faith Knox and Lauren Puchta posted 10:08.15, the Wildcats also third in the 4×400 in 4:22.25 and third in the 4×100 in 52.64 seconds. Mikeayla DeJesus got fifth place in the 200 and sixth place in the 400, with Caitlin Mills fifth in the 100 sprint.There was also the New Hartford Boys Invitational, where WG picked up 24 points and Westhill had 21 points, both finishing in the middle of the pack as Utica Proctor (80 points) took top honors.Matt Bartolotta won the boys mile for the Wildcats, his time of 4:29.78 holding off the 4:31.78 from Central Square’s Brandon Martin. as Westhill’s Dan Washburn was third in the 3,200 in 9:58.87 as Will Thornton got fifth place in the 800.Esisas Brumfield, Dan Gill, Patrick Peris and Jakob Petrocci went 44.18 seconds in the 4×100, second to Whitesboro’s 43.87, Exavier Brumfield getting third place in the 100 in 11.52 seconds after going 11.49 in the qualifying round.Evan Ballard threw the shot put 47’5 ½”, just behind Cicero-North Syracuse’s Andrew Culver (47’8 ¾”), and Ballard was sixth in the discus as Ben Helfeld had a fourth-place shot put toss of 44’2”.Solvay had Justin Scott contend in the 200, reaching the final and taking third place in 24.14 seconds, The Bearcats also finished sixth in the 4×200 relay in 1:40.92.Share this:FacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditComment on this Story Whether close to home, or much further away, area high school track and field teams were quite busy last Friday in three different large-scale meets.Skaneateles and Jordan-Elbridge would both flourish, in their own ways, in Christian Brothers Academy’s Brother Basilian Invitational, with the girls Lakers fourth in the team standings and the boys Eagles fifth, ahead of Marcellus in eighth place.The Skaneateles featured Graeson Landsberg, who in the 400-meter hurdles won it in one minute, 12.07 seconds, more than two seconds clear of the field. Tags: J-EMarcellusskaneatelestrack and fieldWest GeneseeWesthill
Marcellus earned a victory, too, thanks to sprinter Delaney Manahan, who tore to first place in the 400-meter dash in 1:03.37, with teammate Emma Roseboom sixth in 1:06.53. Manahan also was third in the 200-meter dash in 27.38 seconds.The Lakers’ Emme Conan went 13.16 seconds, second to PSLA Fowler’s Kadija Hill-Custis (13.07), in the 100-meter dash. Sharla Dart was second in the shot put, tossing it 30’6 ¼”. Edan Howard, throwing the discus 70’7”, gained third place after she was fourth (27’4 ¼”) in the shot put. Lyda Buck was third in the high jump, clearing 4’6”.As for J-E, it was second in the 4×800 relay as Abby Burns, Vassianna Klock, Hannah Fichter and Coral Uhle posted 10:33.31, with Skaneateles sixth as the Eagles got fifth place in the 4×400.
Athletes run during the Men’s Marathon athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Adrian DENNISKampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Chief de Mission of Uganda’s team at the just concluded Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, Beatrice Ayikoru has called on Government to establish programs that motivates athletes to stay in Uganda and avoid disappearing abroad.In an interview, Ayikoru who is also the general secretary of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) said since most Ugandan athletes are from poor families and backgrounds, when they go abroad they think that’s the opportunity of a life time.She also says sports in the country lacks motivating with no facilities, like swimming pools, squash courts and gyms and no equipment like rackets which are not made in Uganda and are very expensive.During the Games in Australia five athletes Regan Ssimbwa, Nasir Bashir (boxing), Halima Namboozo (table tennis) and two weightlifters Irene Kasubo and Kalidi Butuusa disappeared.Uganda won three gold medals, two bronze and one silver at the common wealth games, with Joshua Cheptegei winning two gold medals in the 5000 and 10,000 race and Stella Chesang won another gold in the 10,000 meters women’s race. Merciline Chelangat also got a bronze in the 10,000 meters and Solomon Mutai got a Silver medal while Juma Miro won bronze in a weight category. Uganda was ranked 15th.Ayikoru also says the other issue is the welfare of athletes. She says a proper arrangement should be in place to pay athletes, even at a time when they are just starting, adding that the structures of talent identification should be established earlier and made sustainable, saying there are thousands of Ugandans who cannot all go out. Ayikoru said she hopes that the athletes will return back to Uganda.It is not the first time Ugandan athletes have disappeared abroad. Last year, three Ugandan boxers David Ayiti, Geoffrey Kakeeto and African welterweight champion Muzamiru Kakande.who participated in the 2017 AIBA World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, did not return home.***URNShare on: WhatsApp