Cal Poly Hosts Logging Competition at Swanton Pacific Ranch

SAN LUIS OBISPO - The Cal Poly Logging Team hosted the 31st annual California Conclave intercollegiate logging competition Saturday, Nov. 15, at the university's Swanton Pacific Ranch, near Santa Cruz.

Katharine Napier chainsawing tree Cal Poly was among five schools from California and Oregon that took part, with a total of 68 individual competitors. Other participants were Humboldt State University, UC Berkeley, Modesto Junior College and Central Oregon Community College.

The daylong event consisted of several logging competitions, including the two-person saw; the horizontal speed chop (in which competitors race to chop through a 12-inch-diameter block in the fastest time); the obstacle pole, in which participants run up a log, cut off the end, and run back down; the axe throw; and others.

Central Oregon took first place overall in the competition, followed by Cal Poly and then Humboldt.

Points were also tallied for individual contestants and events. Cal Poly team member Sarah Harrison finished second among female contestants in overall points, and Poly participants placed high in several events - including first-place finishes in nine.

The Cal Poly Logging Team consists of 58 members from a variety of majors around the campus. Twenty-four members took part in the Nov. 15 competition. Team members must enroll in a one-unit class. For more information on the team, visit www.nrm.calpoly.edu/fnr/clubs.ldml.

This is the 10th time the California Conclave has been held at Swanton Pacific Ranch.

The 3,200-acre ranch north of Santa Cruz along Highway 1 was donated to Cal Poly in 1993 by alumnus and Orchard Supply Hardware founder Al Smith. This ranch is owned by the Cal Poly Corporation and managed by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Faculty, graduate students and undergraduates actively pursue research opportunities there, utilizing the forest, range and watershed.

For more on the ranch, visit www.spranch.org.

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Photo Information: Above, Cal Poly Logging Team member Katharine Napier shows her technique with a chainsaw in the obstacle pole competition during the conclave at Swanton Pacific.