One point. A total of 6.9 seconds after three events are what separated junior Megan Bujnowski of the UNH Woodsmen team from victory and history.
She and nine others competed in the first ever women's competition at the annual STIHL Timbersports Northeast Collegiate Challenge at Dartmouth College on April 25. Junior Sara Hutchins from Colby College won the competition with a total 23 points, besting Bujnowski's 22.
The three competitions included underhand chop, stock saw and single buck. As the lone representative from UNH, Bujnowski finished third in the underhand chop, second in stock saw and third in the single buck, respectively.
And although Bujnowski just barely missed bringing a victory back with her to Durham, the competition was far from a failure for the Hudson, N.H. resident.
"I had to write letters to Dartmouth and I was in contact with the girls there because STIHL originally wasn't going to have the women's competition this year," said Bujnowski. "And we had to fight tooth and nail to get it."
That determination is just the tip of the Bujnowski iceberg.
For six years, she has been fighting to be successful in a sport that is heavily populated by men. Usually, the general populations exposure to competitive lumberjacking and woodsmen teams comes once a year when ESPN airs the Great Outdoor Games. Individuals and teams compete in a variety of unusual, but exciting events with names such as single buck, axe throwing, bow saw and pole climbing.
Bujnowski has been familiarized with the life of chain saws and flying woodchips thanks to Rick Martineau, whom she happened to meet by chance in her second year of high school. Because of a light course load, Matineau, a forestry teacher at Alvirne High School, was teaching a pet care class Bujnowski was taking with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian.
"Sophomore year in high school, I originally wanted to be a veterinarian, and I was in a pet care class," she said. "And once I walked through the door [Martineau] said, 'I pinned you as the first girl I was going to have in my forestry class.'"
She eventually made the decision to study forestry and despite competing on the state level through out high school and finding some success, Bujnowski did not jump head first into the Woodsmen team when she arrived at UNH. She made the decision to step back from competing her first semester freshman year.
"I didn't know if there was really room for women in the sport at that point because I had only competed in high school and I kind of just wanted to concentrate on school for the semester and then get my feet wet," said Bujnowski.
The woodsmen itch became too much however, and Bujnowski just had to scratch it. She joined the team in spring semester, and from there has established herself as not only the best female competitor, but also one of the best of the 30-member UNH team.
"I'm not horrible. I guess some of the national records I have show that, but I certainly don't think I am the best," said Bujnowski. "I always think there is room for improvement and I am always striving to take that next step up. And I hope that if STIHL does get a team one day, that I may be able to do that."
Under the direction of head coach AJ Dupere, an alumnus of the woodsmen team, UNH competes regularly against teams around the northeast. Typically, schools hold their own home meets, which is where teams get most of their competition. UNH has traveled to upwards of five schools this year. Opposing schools include Colby College, Dartmouth, Maine and SUNY CESF.
The STIHL Timbersports competition that Bujnowski dominated in is considered the championship of the spring season. The largest event of the year hosts teams up and down the east coast and east of the Mississippi River.
Of course, you just can't pick up an ax or chain saw and become an instant success over night. Bujnowski trains six days a week in order to stay competitive. Two of those days are spent with her UNH team, and the other four are spent with Herb Gingras.
Gingras, a local from Dover, is a successful lumberjack who has become like a third father to Bujnowski, after her own father and Rick Martineau. She and three men travel to Gingras' home to train.
Bujnowski says his methods may be unorthodox to some, but she knows they made her better over the years. Gingras will have his students practice with the worst equipment imaginable; old, rusty, unsharpened tools. After they complete their task with the bad equipment, he has them do the same thing with better quality equipment.
"I really look up to Herb because he has had plenty of options to go into STIHL and compete with those guys," said Bujnowski. "But he just loves the home roots of being able help people and he doesn't have to be in the spotlight. He always says you will never learn anything by standing on the blocks and blowing through a piece of wood in 12 seconds."
Chain saw speed and Horizontal chop are Bujnowski's favorite events, even if she excels more at one than the other.
"Horizontal chop has come a long way," she said. "I am doing a lot better now than I did before. I hope to get really good at it one day. It's just a rush holding a $400 ax while falling off a block after you split it."
The chain saw speed is basically that. A competitor has a log, usually pine or aspen, and a chain saw. The competitor must cut along the log from top to bottom within a marked line. If you cut outside of the line, you are disqualified.
In horizontal chop, the competitor uses an ax to cut through a block of wood they are standing on as fast as they can.
It is not secret, however, that lumberjack and outdoor competition are very one sided in the category of sex. There is no women's division on the pro circuit, which is where Bujnowski will be competing over the summer. That means she will be competing along with men, a position she has no trouble being in.
"It's basically going and making a name for yourself, so when we do get that all-women circuit, you will be well-respected," Bujnowski said. "I love doing it and I love the atmosphere. My motivation is that hopefully I will do well and the fact that I won't win doesn't bother me at all. I may not go out there and get first place, but I will definitely beat some of the guys, and I think that is more motivation then anything."
Being a minority in the sport she loves, Bujnowski realizes that things won't get better if her fellow female competitors accept that they are the minority.
"It is really an American, back country sport," she said. "We need to continue to go out there and not just sit there and talk about how women should be able to do it. Go out there and do it. Show up and say 'Hey, we are here whether you want us or not, we are still going to be here doing it.' Just go out and do your thing whether people recognize it or not."
With that determination, the women's field at the 2010 STIHL Timbersports Northeast Collegiate Challenge could grow too much larger than nine.
Be the first to comment on this article!