ESPN TIMBERSPORTS

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Twenty year old boom runner Alyse Schroeder took one look at the log arrangement for the 2009 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Finals and knew she was in trouble. Three long logs at the beginning of the run meant an advantage for her opponent, Shana Martin, whose powerful legs would have room to gain speed heading into the turn.

"It got into my head during practice," said Schroeder, who is only in her second year of competing in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series presented by Carhartt and is easily one of the youngest competitors. "But I calmed down and kept telling myself, 'just run, you've done this a million times.'"

And just run she did. In one of the closest finals in STIHL TIMBERSPORTS history, Schroeder took down veteran and perennial favorite Shana Martin with a time of 11.14 seconds to Martin's 11.28, digging into the last log and diving across the finish to take the win.

"I don't even remember it," said a breathless Schroeder immediately after. "You black out when you run the boom. I've never run a race that close in my entire life."

Schroeder, who is a full time student at Penn State University, trains with 2008 champion Taylor Duffy in their hometown of Hayward, Wis. Despite not qualifying for the finals this year, Duffy was still in attendance to cheer on her practice partner, and the two tearfully embraced after the race.

"Honestly this feeling is so unreal," said Schroeder. "Having the past champion to train with — she just pushes me so hard. It's amazing."

Of her final dive to the finish, Schroeder only remembers thinking, "I have to go for it, this is it — do or die."

Schroeder and Martin were followed in third by Olivia Judd, whose time of 11.73 took down Katie Rick's fourth place time of 11.82 and completed an all-Wisconsin sweep of the competition.

It was also do or die in the speed climb, where the finals pitted Brian Bartow (Lake Oswego, Ore.) against Derek Knutson (Hayward, Wis.) in a rematch from 2008's championship. Both competitors were even when they reached the top of the tree, but it was Knutson who flew down first and hit the mat in a time of 11.56 seconds to Bartow's 11.72. They were followed by Cassidy Scheer in third, who posted a time of 13.03 seconds to relegate Stirling Hart to fourth with a time of 13.38.

Knutson, who said prior to the event that he was "tired of getting second," posted consistently quicker times throughout the opening and semifinal rounds, but said he knew it would take even more to beat the reigning champ.

"Brian (Bartow) has the fastest up there is," said Knutson. "You just have to hope you come out of the tree quicker. I had a little bit of a rocky down, but it worked out anyway."

Bartow himself was none too pleased with his second place run.

"I kind of tightened up at the top, and I lost track on the way down" he said. "But he put in a good time to win it."

Knutson made some adjustments to his rope prior to the final round, adding additional electrical tape to help it grip the tree in hot and humid conditions that made the wood soft and slippery.

"I loaded it on and it worked out pretty good," said Knutson, whose rope slipped on the up during the previous day's exhibition. "It didn't slip so much at the top."

It was Knutson's first win in four tries at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series, an always-a-bridesmaid-and-never-the-bride tag he was happy to shed.

"It feels great to actually win the championship," said Knutson. "Especially against a field of climbers like we had this year."