Spring Meet SUNY Cobleskill 4/29/11

Every year colleges from all over the Northeast get together for the Woodsmen’s Annual Spring Meet or Conclave. This year this two day event was held on April 29-30 at SUNY Cobleskill, and participants came from all over New England and New York State. In addition to teams from Unity and SUNY Cobleskill, teams from Colby College, Dartmouth College, University of Connecticut, University of New Hampshire, Paul Smith College, Finger Lakes Community College, Ranger School, Environmental Science and Forestry College, and Albert College participated.

Along with the usual collegiate competition, the Stihl Collegiate and Professional Timbersports Qualifier competitions for the Northeast also occurred with each school sending their strongest male and female competitors. ESPNU will broadcast highlights of this competition in June and currently results are available on the Stihl Timbersports website. The top male competitor qualifies for the national competition in Oregon and a chance to compete on the professional circuit. The Northeast is the only region to have a Stihl women’s competition as it has the strongest female competitors in every event.

The female Stihl competitor for Unity College was Valerie Leclerc, who won the underhand part of the event, beating her nearest competitor by more than 10 seconds. Robert “Brad” Arnesen was Unity’s male Stihl competitor and he won the standing block chop in 31.55 seconds which was the fastest time for any Stihl Qualifier in the United States. Although neither Val nor Brad won an overall qualifier position, they both set national records and represented the college very well.

The regular Spring Meet events were exciting with thirty-five teams overall. Although the Unity teams did not win any trophies, they were very competitive in all the events. The Unity women finished seventh overall with Wendy Perry coming in second in burling, Katrina Wert in a tie for second place in fly casting, Shelby Hicks in third for pole climb, Katrina and Courtney Nelson in fourth in water boil, Wendy and Valerie Leclerc in fourth in standing block chop, and Valerie, Wendy and Katrina were fourth in underhand cop.

The men also did well with Jeff Merrill, Cody Jackman and Ken St. Pierre in second place in splitting, Travis Courser finishing third in burling, Jeff tied for second and Matt Finch for third in fly fishing, Cody  was fourth in pole climb, Travis and Brad  fourth in standing block chop, Travis , Brad and Ross Conway fourth in underhand chop, and Dennison Hunt tied for fifth in axe throw. The Unity A team, consisting of Brad Arnesen, Travis Courser, Ross Conway, Cody Jackman, Ken St Pierre, and Jeff Merrill, were eighth overall out of nineteen men’s teams. Due to end of the semester scheduling conflicts the Unity B team, with Dennison Hunt, Brandyn Hurt, Matt Finch and Ben Lewis, enlisted two University of Maine woodsmen, Gordan Sloat and Jeb Appleton , to complete their team, and finished in twelfth place overall.

Unity alumni from across the country came out to support the Unity Woodsmen at this two day event. Some of the alums who attended were Richard Russ, Brian Lane, Charles Aznive, Kim Scantlebury, Matt Pawlikowski, Cory and Marcia Goodrich. Many parents also came to watch the last contest of the year too. We thank everyone who has supported the team all year as we have competed across Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States.

Unity College Home Meet 9/24/11

 The 34th Annual Unity College Woodsmen’s Meet was held at Vickery Field on September 24, 2011. Teams from Colby College, University of New Hampshire, and University of Maine competed against a strong Unity team. Alumni teams from Unity and Colby also joined in the competition and the spectators included students, faculty, staff, alumni and parents.

Unity fielded two men’s teams and two women’s teams. The Unity Men’s A- team, made up of Brad Arnesen, Ross Conway, Travis Courser, Brandyn Hurd, Matt Mitchell and Jeff Merrill, won the overall trophy in the men’s division. The A-team also was first in the team crosscut sawing, pulp pit, and log decking. In the single events, Jeff Merrill was first in axe throw, Brad Arnesen won single buck, Ross Conway took disc stack, and Travis Courser came out on top in minute pulp. Jeff Merrill and Matt Mitchell placed first in crosscut to death, Travis Courser and Brad Arnesen won vertical chop, Brandyn Hurd and Ross Conway won log roll, Brad Arnesen, Travis Courser and Ross Conway were first in horizontal chop, and Brandyn Hurd, Matt Mitchell and Jeff Merrill placed third in quarter split,

The men’s B-team, consisting of Ryan O’Neill, Kevin Cummings. Tyler Law, Blake Wilder, Matt Finch, and Ben Lewis, placed second in team log decking and third in team pulp pit. They finished fifth overall out of seven men’s teams.

The women’s teams also did very well. The women’s A-team, sonsisting of Anne Hare, Shelby Hicks, Valerie Leclerc, Jennifer Michaud, Courtney Nelson and Katrina Wert finished second out of four women’s teams. The women’s B-team, with Julie Creed, Alicen Kanzler, Mackenzie Kelsey, Alyssa Maltman, and Meaghan Taylor also did well. The A-team placed second in team crosscut and team pulp pit, while B-team was third in log decking. In the singles events, Jen Michaud won and Meaghan Taylor placed third in disc stack, Michelle Wagner was first and Anne Hare was second in log split, Shelby Hicks as second and Alicen Kanzler was third in pole climb, Mackenzie Kelsey was second in single buck, Courtney Nelson was second in axe throw and Katrina Wert came in second in minute pulp. Valerie Leclerc and Shelby Hicks won crosscut to death, Anne Hare and Jen Michaud were second in vertical chop, while Valerie Leclerc, Jen Michaud and Katrina Wert placed second in horizontal chop.

The Unity Woodsmen would like to thank everyone who came out to watch and support them, with special thanks to the students who spent the day timing and doing the final results. We really appreciate everyone’s efforts!

Paul Smith's College 10/22/11

The Unity College Woodsmen traveled to Paul Smith College in the Adirondack Park on October 22, 2011 to compete with schools from New York and Vermont.  Unity College was represented by a men’s team, a women’s team and a Jack & Jill team of three men and three women.  Other schools competing were: SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY-ESF and SUNY-ESF Ranger School of Syracuse, NY, Finger Lakes Community College of Canandaigua, NY, University of Vermont, Alfred State and Paul Smith College.

The Jack and Jill team competed against five other teams and did very well. Tyler Law won the water birling and Ryan O’Neill and Annie Hare were first in crosscut to Hell. Kevin Cummings was third in pole climb. The team placed first in log roll and 4^th in pulp toss. Other members of the team were Meaghan Taylor, Alyssa Maltman and Matt Mitchell.

The women’s team competed against six other teams and placed fourth in log roll. Valerie Leclerc was second in single buck, Valerie Leclerc and Jennifer Michaud won second place in horizontal chop, and Courtney Nelson was tied for second place in axe throw. Shelby Hicks placed third in pole climb, and Alicen Kanzler was fourth in the chain saw event. The other member of the team was Katrina Wert.

The men’s team squared off against sixteen other teams in a stiff competition. Brad Arnesen and Travis Courser won the horizontal chop by a substantial margin. Matt Finch and Jeff Merrill were fourth in wood split and Brad Arnesen was fifth in single buck sawing. The team was third in bow saw and pulp toss. The team also finished third in crosscut, only missing second place by one hundredth of a second. The other two members of the team were Ross Conway and Brandyn Hurd.

On November 5^th the Unity Woodsmen will be traveling to Durham, NH and the University of New Hampshire for the last meet of this semester. Please congratulate all of these athletes on their success and continuing hard work.

University of New Hampshire 11/05/11

On Saturday November 5, 2011 the Unity College Woodsmen sent two men’s and two women’s teams to the University of New Hampshire to compete against Dartmouth College, Colby College, University of Connecticut, and University of Maine. All of Unity’s teams did very well, winning numerous events with family members, alumni and friends cheering them on. 

The men’s A team was first overall in the men’s division. Travis Courser and Brad Arnesen won the Vertical Chop, Matt Finch and Jeff Merrill took Cross Cut to Death, Travis Courser, Brad Arnesen and Ross Conway triumphed in Horizontal Chop, and Brandyn Hurd, Matt Finch and Jeff Merrill prevailed in Wood Split. In the team events the A team won Pulp Toss, Cross Cut, and Bow Saw.

The men’s B team also competed well. Tyler Law and Blake Wilder won Minute Pulp, Tyler Law, Matt Mitchell, and Blake Wilder placed second in Wood Split, and Kevin Cummings and Ben Lewis were third in Cross Cut to Death. In the team events the men’s B team, which also included Ryan O’Neill, were second in Log Roll and Pulp Toss.

The women’s A team also competed well. Valerie Leclerc was first in Single Buck, Jen Michaud took first in Tree ID, Shelby Hicks and Valerie Leclerc won Cross Cut to Death, and Valerie Leclerc, Jen Michaud and Katrina Wert smoked the other teams in Horizontal Chop. Jen Michaud and Annie Hare placed second in Vertical Chop, and Shelby Hicks was third in Disc Stack. In the team events the women’s A team won Cross Cut, and they placed second in Log Roll and Pulp Toss.