Paul Smith's College Woodsmen's Team Pair Wins First Place at UCONN Competition

On March 5th, the two pairs of Paul Smiths College Woodsmen's Team athletes traveled to Storrs, CT to compete in the annual Jack & Jill meet hosted by the University of Connecticut.   This unique meet invites teams of one male and one female to compete in a variety of classic woodsmen's events. 

Representing Paul Smiths College were the teams of Zachary Cowperthwait (Columbus, NJ) and Hannah Aldrich (Cortland, NY), and Daniel Miner (Hopkington, NH) and Allison Howard (Newport, NH).  Everyone saw success in their events, but Copperthwait and Aldrich were the standout pair of the competition.  The earned first place in six disciplines while capturing the first place overall in the Jack & Jill competition.

The events included individual and team disciplines.  The pairs worked together in the log roll, pulp toss, crosscut sawing, standing block chop and underhand chop.  The teams then divided up the remaining individual disciplines: bowsaw, single buck, axe throw and disc stack.  Points were awarded for the fastest time overall, regardless of male or female participation.  

Typical collegiate competitions are based on six person teams in three ok different divisions: Women's, Men's, and Jack & Jill.  This weekend's competition was unique with only two people competing across all these disciplines.  

Keith Braun, PSC's Men's Coach commented, "The success of the PSC teams over the weekend really speaks to the competitors' dedication to developing themselves as athletes and learning the intricacies of their sport.  Typically, each competitor needs to hone their skill in only a handful of disciplines, but Zach, Hannah, Danny and Allie have shown that with focused training and a little bit of extra grit you can be successful across the board." 

A professional competition was held at the same time as the collegiate competition.  Paul Smith's College Women's Coach, Kate Snyder, competed among the professional ranks while also providing advice and direction to the PSC teams throughout the meet.  "It was great to have been part of the team out here representing Paul Smith's College. We were able to watch the pros chop and saw throughout the day, which gives younger athletes a great perspective.  Both PSC teams had excellent performances, and we look forward to bringing the same energy to the next meet at SUNY ESF later this month," Kate said after the competition. 

Also taking place on Saturday was the Speed Skating Championships of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in preparation for the World University Games to take place in Lake Placid, NY next winter.  The Woodsmen's teams demonstrated a variety of disciplines to the international crowd and had a fantastic time meeting Adirondack Mac, the FISU mascot for LP '23.  A video from FISU can be found here