Paul Smith’s College Hosts 2022 Fall Woodsmen’s Competition

Paul Smiths, NY ~ On Saturday, November 5th, more than 150 athletes from nine colleges participated in Paul Smith's College's annual fall woodmen's competition. Events included underhand chop, pole climb, axe throwing, sawing, chainsaw cookie stacking, and more.  All events took place at the PSC Forestry Club Cabin and Gould Hoyt Woodsmen's Arena.  Teams were competing for first place trophies in four different divisions: Men's, Women's, Jack and Jill, and Open. 

 

Each team, all comprised of six athletes, competes in a total of 14 events - each worth up to 100 points.  Team events like crosscut and bow saw, pulp toss, pack board relay, and log roll require all six members of the team to compete.  In the singles events - pole climb, axe throw, super swede, triathlon, cookie stack and single buck - one athlete competes on behalf of their team.  Two athletes from each team compete in the doubles events: underhand chop, quarter splitting, and crosscut to death. 

 

"It was great to see so many teams at Paul Smith's Today, we couldn't ask for a better day of competition," said PSC's head coach and meet director, Keith Braun.  "A special thank you needs to go out to the timers, judges, and all of those who worked hard to make this day happen."

 

Saturday's event saw some of the fiercest competitions of the season, with the top places in some divisions being separated by only single digit point spreads.  

 

In the Jack and Jill Division, where each team is comprised of three men and three women, first and second place were separated by just five points.  The Paul Smith's College Jack and Jill team finished the day with 1160.9 points, edging out SUNY Cobleskill who earned 1155.1 points.  The PSC Jack and Jill team, who remain undefeated this fall season, took first place in team crosscut saw, team pulp toss, underhand chop, super swede, single buck, and cookie stack. 

 

The Men's division saw similar competition with the top three finishers being separated by less than fifty points.  Finger Lakes Community College took home the first-place trophy with 1182.5 points.  The Paul Smith's College Men's 1 team finished the day in second place earning 1157.9 points, falling shy of the first-place spot by less than 25 points.  The PSC Men's 1 team took first place in cookie stack, super swede, crosscut to death, and underhand chop.  The PSC Men's 2 Team finished in seventh place with 748.7 points. 

 

The Women's Division first place team, Finger Lakes Community College, earned 1208.7 points.  The PSC Women's team finished the day with 1022.9 points, landing a respectable third place rank.   SUNY ESF was the second-place finisher with 1158.9 points. 

 

The Open Division, where teams may have any combination of athletes, saw the first place trophy go to SUNY Morrisville.  The PSC Open team finished in third place. 

 

Some notable results for PSC:

 

• PSC Men's 1 underhand choppers, Daniel Miner and Matthew Bliss, finished their 8"x8" chopping blocks in relay fashion in just 30 seconds, beating the second-place finishers by 10 seconds. Most men's teams took more than a minute to finish. 
• PSC Jack and Jill bow sawyer, Cal Barber, made four complete bowsaw cuts on an 8"x8" pine cant in just 29.2 seconds.  The second-place finisher's time was 50.5 seconds; many team's times were more than 90 seconds. 
• PSC dominated the cookie stacker event with first place finish in the men's, women's and jack and jill divisions.  Men's cookie stacker Bradley Tessier stacked 17 cookies.  Women's cookie stacker, Madison Franco, Stacked 12 Cookies. Jack and Jill Cookie Stacker, Amanda Ferris, stacked 13 cookies.
• PSC Open Captain and Single Buck Sawyer, Alexander Trim, placed first with a 29 second cut on 15" white pine.