ESPN TIMBERSPORTS

COLUMBUS, Ga.— Two waist-high fences line the end of the starting and returning deck in each lane of the boom run course.

On Sunday's final contest, the purpose of the wooden barriers became clear. Taylor "Tay-Tay" Duffy barreled across the green finish line and rested her hands and head on the fence, overcome with emotion.

Duffy beat Jenny Atkinson and her 11.76-second time gave Duffy her first ever win in a STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series Women's boom bracket.

"The last time I won an event I was 15," Duffy said, after hugging her soggy competitor. "And that was a decade ago."

Accelerating her last few steps from the log onto the dry platform, Duffy carried her momentum across the line towards the fencing. Extending her arms to stop her progress, the subsequent jolt rocked her body. She immediately placed her hand over her mouth to mask her emotion.

"I just tried to stay light on my feet and get across the course," Duffy said. "And I did it."

In the other lane, Atkinson, a Minnesota school teacher, saw trouble just a few logs short of the finish line. A slip forced Atkinson into the pool and dashed her chances of catching Duffy. She finished in second place with a 19.65-second time.

"I was just a little off-center on the yellow log," she said. "It's a tiny log and it sent me to a sharp right."

Atkinson, who finished in ninth place in Lehi, Utah, originally hadn't qualified for the Columbus event. But Mandy Erdmann couldn't make the finals at these Aflac Outdoor Games and Atkinson sneaked into the eighth slot.

"Luckily the stars were aligned for me to get in," Atkinson said. "But I'm excited for Taylor; it's really a big breakthrough for her."

In the third-place contest, Shana Martin faced off against Katie Rick. Martin sprinted across the link of logs in 11.03 seconds to beat Rick's 12.07 time.