ESPN TIMBERSPORTS

The promise of copper attracted scores of wide-eyed prospectors to the heart of Upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in the late 1800s. On Saturday, Sept. 27, however, wood chips will be the draw to the land of Portage Lake and Lake Superior.

The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series, the premier lumberjack sports event seen by millions of fans on ESPN, is bringing its Collegiate Series to Michigan Tech's 57th annual Forestry Club Midwest Conclave. The competition will be held 40 miles south of the Houghton campus at the Ford Center, the research forest and conference center in L'Anse, Mich., and part of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences.

The Collegiate Series travels to schools across the country to challenge amateur lumberjacks in head-to-head competitions and determine the best all-around collegiate lumberjack athletes.

The Michigan Tech event marks the first of five qualifying events in the 2009 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series and will be broadcast the same year on ESPNU.

In L'Anse, Michigan Tech Huskies and amateur competitors from eight other schools will face off in the underhand chop, stock saw and single buck on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.

One competitor will earn his school a $1,000 scholarship from STIHL and an individual berth in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Championship to be held June 2009 in Columbus, Ga.

Contestants will earn points based on their finish in each event, and ultimately the individual with the best all-around score moves on to the Collegiate Series championship. The winner of the Collegiate Series championship wins a spot in the 2010 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Professional Series.

Michigan Tech's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences last hosted this event in 2002, and featured a great turnout, showcasing the facilities and impressing Upper Peninsula students from other areas of the Midwest.

This year's Midwest Conclave competitors will have an opportunity to learn competition skills from Mike Slingerland, one of the top professionals in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series. Slingerland will perform demonstrations of all of the lumberjack disciplines and assist the collegiate athletes in improving their skills.

"We're gearing up for our seventh season creating and producing the STIHL TIMBERPORTS Collegiate Series," said Roger Phelps, promotional communications manager for STIHL Inc. "Every year the series grows with the number of participating schools and the level of tough competition. We created the Collegiate Series to support collegiate interest in the sport around the country and help develop the next top U.S. pro athlete."

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series Event

When: Saturday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.

Where: The Ford Center 21235 Alberta Ave. L'Anse, MI 49946

Colleges: Iowa State University Lakehead University Michigan State University Michigan Tech University Missouri University Purdue University Southern Illinois University University of Minnesota at Minneapolis University of Wisconsin  Stevens Point

Event schedule

Schedule of Events for Friday, September 26, 2008

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Check-in and Registration

Schedule of Events for Saturday, September 27, 2008

6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. Breakfast

7:45 a.m. Wood ID Men's pulp toss Women's pulp toss

9:15 a.m. Men's log roll Women's buck saw Single buck saw Traverse

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Women's bolt throw Two-man buck saw Chain throw

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:45 p.m. Women's log roll Jack & Jill buck saw Men's bolt throw Tobacco spit

2:00 p.m. Dendrology Match split Jack & Jill log roll

3:00 p.m. Men's underhand chop Women's underhand chop

4:00 p.m. STIHL Collegiate Series events

5:30 p.m. Special event

6:30 p.m. Dinner