ESPN TIMBERSPORTS

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STILLWATER, MINN., July 21, 2007 — The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series Championships returned to an area rich in lumberjack history. The town of Stillwater has a proud tradition in lumber that dates back to the 1880's when this bustling mill town supplied all the wood for the Midwest expansion.

During the days of the lumber camps that lined the river, lumberjacks would come up with contests that would test their logging skills. Most of the games we have today were born in this area, according to Roger Phelps, STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series Tournament Director. "Boom runners and log rollers were originally known as 'river pigs' and they performed a very important job in keeping logs from jamming up the river," he said.

All the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series events were also a mainstay of the camps and they would have chopping and sawing contests to see who was the "best in camp", said Phelps.

Chopping, sawing, boom running, log rolling and pole climbing were all revived today in Stillwater and you could feel the spirit of the men who used these skills to build America.

A special guest was in attendance. One of the world's top log rollers, who was injured in Iraq, stopped by to see some friends. J.R. Salzman is already a legend in the sport and chose to serve his country in the war against terror. He lost his right arm in Iraq—the victim of a roadside bombing—but promised to be competing as soon as possible. Although he is still heavily involved in his rehab programs at Walter Reed Army Hospital, he took a few minutes in the practice pool, log rolling to prove he would be true to his word.

The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series Championships kicked off the day's events on the banks of the St. Croix River with six competitors who won their regional championships in the U.S. and Canada. Following the Collegiate Series action, two professional events entertained the fans and put these competitors through their paces.

In the Collegiate Series Championships, Jonathan Blais out of Canada's McGill University, Jay Blackburn of Haywood Community College, NC State's Mike Brafford, David Hanlon from Central Oregon Community College, Paul Smith's College's Curt Karboski, and Justin Perron of Sir Sanford Fleming College all represented their respective universities proudly in the preliminary competition.

Collegiate Preliminaries
Underhand

Justin Perron took charge in the first event posting an incredible time of 21.42. The crowd screamed for Justin as he pumped his hands in the air. He proved to the fans he was here to take the championships by storm, showing that the future of STIHL TIMBERSPORTS had arrived.

Cutting on the edge, Curt Karboski kept the competition close, posting a time of 23.04 to finish second in the heat.

The rest of the finishers were Jonathan Blais, Jay Blackburn, Michael Brafford and Dave Hanlon.

Stock Saw

Jay Blackburn said it's not all about feel—he also listened to the Stock Saw on his way to the heat victory with a time of 11.99. "It's a combination of touch, and hearing that the saw doesn't bog down," said the winner. Less than a second behind was David Hanlon.

Last year's champion Jonathan Blais surprised the crowd by cutting out and earning a disqualification in the event while Justin Perron also bogged down, tightening up the overall competition.

Rounding out the heat were Michael Brafford, Curt Karboski, Perron and Blais.

Single Buck

I thought only chain saws could smoke? Jonathan Blais heated up his heat with his cross cut saw, smoking the competition with a posting time of 11.43. Unfortunately, the blazing win did not help the returning champion make it into the finals after a DQ in the Stock Saw.

"It's such a close competition with only three events; my day was over before I came into this event," said Blais. "There was no pressure, I just went out and had fun. I had a good time coming out here."

Continuing to cut through the heat and keep the competition a close match, Curt Karboski took second beating Justin Perron.

"Every event you have to win, or get in the top two, or you're out," said Karboski. "It's nice to have a lot of events, but this is fun 'cause it keeps the competitive level up."

Finishing out the round were Jay Blackburn, David Hanlon, and Michael Brafford.

Moving on to the finals were the top two finishers in each heat. In the Underhand Chop Justin Perron will square off against Curt Karboski.

The Stock Saw will see Jay Blackburn and David Hanlon, while the Single will match Jonathan Blais and Curt Karboski.

Both Blackburn and Karboski have an advantage appearing in two events.

Collegiate Finals

After preliminary rounds, the competitors are ranked in the top two seeds for each event and proceed to go into one final round of head-to-head competition for each of the three competitive events.

At the end of the final rounds there was a three way tie for first that ended up in a Stock Saw Championship "saw off."

The drama that led to the event was created by Curt Karboski who was disqualified in his Stock Saw but had two wins in the final two heats of the Underhand Chop and Single Buck saw, where he bested one the finest young sawyers, Jonathan Blais. Jay Blackburn owned the day with his "saw off" time of 12.85.

Karboski bobbled a little and posted a 13.49 which was good enough for second place. Justin Perron had a 32.92 when he stalled his saw but took the bronze medal.

The big man on campus taking home the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Championship title is Jay Blackburn. Taking home the gold qualified Jay to take a spot in the first round of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Professional Series in 2008.

"I feel good, I worked really hard to get this far, so this feels great. Now this means I have a lot more work ahead of me," said Blackburn. "I'm going to continue to train with, Jamie Cogar. I've learned a lot staying at his house and getting focused on each event. Id love to train with a few other guys from the professional series."

When asked how he felt when the title came down to a three-way tie, Blackburn responded, "I couldn't believe it! It was a perfect example of the type of competition I was up against, and how important it was to be consistent."

The final standings are as follows:
1st- Jay Blackburn
2nd- Curt Karboski
3rd- Justin Perron
4th- Jonathan Blais
5th  Dave Hanlon
6th- Michael Brafford

After the Collegiate Series action came to a close, it was time to see what the pros had to offer. And the fans were not disappointed as both boom runners and speed climbers showed what they were made of.

Boom Running

The Elite Eight squared off in four heats to decide who would be in Sunday's semi-finals. Mandy Erdmann, Tanya Fischer, Lizzie Hoeschler and Jenny Atkinson grabbed the top four spots and will advance to the semi-finals tomorrow.

The women seemed to have a mastery of the boom today after dismal practice attempts yesterday. "Once you know what to expect it does get a little easier," said Hoeschler. "These logs are lathe-turned so they spin more than regular logs, since there is little resistance in the water."

Speed Climb

The crowd stuck around for a few sore necks as they watched the next group of athletes hustle up and down 60-foot trees in the alluring Speed Climb event. In a head-to-head elimination, the competitors knew how important it was to have a clean climb.

"It was good enough for today. I'm moving on, that's what matters," said Joel Kapp. "I didn't want to get too crazy today."

The top eight went head-to-head in four heats to take a spot in the final four for Sunday's semi-final round. Climbing to the next round are, Cassidy Scheer, Joel Kapp, Guy German, and Derek Knutson.