Woodsmen
Team News
Fleming College 26th Annual Loggersports Competition, Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Thirty two teams from Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada competed Saturday, November 1st at Fleming College in Lindsay Ontario in thirteen diffeent woodsmen’s events. For the second year in a row, men from Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smith’s, New York earned the first place trophy with a total score of 1117 points. Men’s teams from Fleming College, University of New Brunswick, McGill University, and Nova Scotia Agricultural College finished with1015, 1008, 833 and 822 respectively. The FLCC Men’s 1 team finished 7th and 9th with 796 and 710 points.
A few fibers still connecting two pieces of quarter split wood earned a disqualification in that event for the M1 team. Without that unfortunate break, the men would likely have placed fourth overall. John Little, Andes, placed second in the axe throw behind a former FLCC player Matt Bolton of Canandaigua who now attends Paul Smith’s College. Ben Hanggi, Naples, tied for 4th in the Axe throw for the FLCC M2 team. Rob Spry, Walworth, and John Little earned a 3rd place in the prestigious under hand chop for the M1 team, Chris Mielewski Webster, Massachusetts, and Brian Harrison, Canisteo, finished third in the standing block chop for the M2 team.
Dana Harenda, West Clarksville, won a third place for the FLCC women in the chainsaw event; Britney Funcius, Saugerties took 4th place in the pole climb event. The FLCC women lost one of their strongest players to a shoulder injury prior to the SSFC competition and drafted one of the women from the SSFC squad to fill the team to the requisite six persons.
The SSFC competition finishes the fall season for the Woodsmen. Practice will continue for spring competitions through to the 63rd Annual Spring Woodsmen’s meet which will be held in April at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The FLCC men will be defending their 16th trophy for this championship; the FLCC women seek their 15th.
Hanover, New Hampshire 61st Annual Spring Competition Dartmouth Woodsmen’s Weekend.
Finger Lakes Women dominate canoe races . . .
Twenty nine teams from 13 Colleges from Northeastern North America participated in the 61st Annual Spring Woodsmen’s Championship at Dartmouth College this past weekend. Deborah Lyon (Captain), Canandaigua, and Beth Waterstraat, Phelps, placed first in the doubles canoe race, Molly Swartwood, Locke, and Emily Bonk, Canandaigua, won the canoe portage event, Nicole Rivet, Canandaigua, and Rebecca Skeldon, Geneseo, fell one second away from first place in the singles canoe race. In the singles events, Rivet placed a solid first in the pole climb, Swartwood placed third in the single buck contest and Skeldon placed third in the surveyor’s chain throw. The doubles events, Swartwood and Bonk placed second in the scoot loading event; Skeldon and Waterstraat place third in the water boil contest. The Finger Lakes women won the team log roll contest and placed third in the team packboard relay race. Their overall score of 1399 points put them in fourth place behind the first place score of 1683 earned by the women from Colby College. The women from Nova Scotia Agricultural College and from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse) placed second and third respectively.
The Finger Lakes men’s first team earned 1329 points for a 6th place out of 22 men’s teams. The team, Kolby Leibenguth (Captain), Macedon, Ryan Waterstraat, Prattsburg, Rob Spry, Walworth, Kyle Heitman, Penn Yan, Gerald Towne, Nunda, Steve Popp, East Rochester repeated their first place finish in the buck saw relay event. The team placed second in the log roll event. Liebengith and Spry placed second in the doubles canoe race. Spry, Heitman and Towne placed third in the quarter split contest.
The FLCC M2 team, Brian Harrison (Captain), Canisteo, Josh Harvey, Cattaraugus, John Little, Andes, Alex Stevens, Red Creek, Mike LeCesse, Farmington and Kevin Verschnieder, Canandaigua finished 10th overall with 1217 points. In the singles events, LeCesse placed third in the pole climb and Harrison placed third in the obstacle course. Harrison and Stevens placed third in the water boil event; LeCesse, Harvey and Verschnieder placed third in the quarter split. The team took a third place in the log roll event.
Kolby Liebenguth represented FLCC in the Stihl Collegiate Challenge. He placed second in the underhand chop and tied for fourth place overall in his bid to compete at the ESPN sponsored Stihl Timbersports Series in Minnesota this summer.
More than half of the current Woodsmen graduate in May which for the two year FLCC programs is a particular challenge as all other schools in the circuit have four year programs. FLCC will host the 9th Annual Cumming Nature Center competition next fall on Sunday, October 7. The University of New Hampshire will serve as host to the 62nd Annual Meet in April of 2008.
