state championship Students from Finger Lakes Community College, Paul Smith's College and the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse chopped, sawed, tossed, climbed and rolled to settle both team and individual woodsmen's championship status Saturday, April 6. Competing as a unit, the Finger Lakes men and women retained their title from last year. FLCC amassed 4,736 points in the twelve different events compared with Paul Smith's 4,472 and ESF's 4,183. Four individuals from each school competed in five different events to determine the individual State Men's and Women's Championship. FLCC's Michael Koers (Alexander) placed first overall, 25 hundredths of a percentage point ahead of Chris Henning (Walworth) of FLCC for the men's title. Chris Henning lost the title last year to Michael Miller (Penn Yan) by a few hundredths of a second in a tie breaker chain saw event. Tracie Schultz of Macedon lost her State Championship title earned last year with a 94 point second place finish behind Rose Theilian (100 points) of Paul Smith's College. Liza-Jan Bobsiene (Cattaraugus) placed fourth in her bid for the women's title with 72 points. Koers finished first in single buck, underhand chop and cross cut with Henning as his partner. Henning took additional firsts in bowsaw and in the Jack and Jill cross cut event with partner, Schultz. Schultz also placed first in the women's bowsaw contest. Laura Eames (Varysburg) and Mike Ottley (Churchville) placed first in the Jack and Jill pulp toss. Will LaValley (Wolcott) won the axe throw in the men's division; Samantha Everest (Canandaigua) placed first in the women's chainsaw event. Toni Gallo (Fishkill) and Eames won the women's crosscut. Liza-Jan Bobsiene placed first in underhand chop and first in the pole climbing maintaining her perfect record in this event for nearly a year. The teams of Ottley and Jason Stekl (Hemlock) and Tom Somerville (Penfield) and Katrina Ruppersberger (Canandaigua) both earned trophies in the quarter-split contest. Both the Finger Lakes men and women carry their Northeastern North American title to the 56th Annual Championship that will be held at Unity College (Maine) April 19 and 20. Both the FLCC men and women have won this title 13 times - more than any other school in the fifty six year history of the meet. World Lumberjack Champion, Dave Jewett of Pittsford (FLCC 94), will serve as commentator for an ESPN special to be filmed on promising collegiate lumberjacks at the Unity Meet. |
