Gainesville, Fla. (March 12, 2008) – Enthusiastic collegiate sports fans packed into the exhibition building at the Alachua County Fairgrounds in Gainesville, Fla. over the weekend to see lumberjacks representing 16 schools across the Southeast compete in a winner-take-all chopping and sawing battle.
Emerging victorious after three rounds of competition in the STIHL®TIMBERSPORTS® Collegiate Series event was Louisiana Tech’s Justin Jacobs, who sliced his way to a first-place finish through cumulative points gathered in the underhand chop, stock saw and single buck events. Jacobs also became the second student lumberjack to qualify for the Collegiate Championship being held June 27-29 in Columbus, Ga.
As part of his win, STIHL will pay Jacob’s way to the Collegiate Championship, including travel and lodging for the athlete and his coach. He also earned a $1,000 scholarship for his school from STIHL.
“ STIHL would like to congratulate Justin on his win in our second STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series event of the season,” said Roger Phelps, promotional communications manager for STIHL Inc. “We created this series to help develop the next top STIHL TIMBERSPORTS competitors, as well as encourage collegiate interest in the sport around the country. Justin and his fellow competitors are wonderful ambassadors of the sport.”
After Jacobs, second-place honors were split between North Carolina State’s David Barker and the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s Cory Brown. Third place went to University of Florida Gator lumberjack Justin Phillips, while Josh Seehorn of the University of Georgia and Virginia Tech’s Scott McKee both took home a share of fourth.
The next STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series event will take place at Haywood Community College in Haywood, N.C. on April 13.
For more information, go to
www.ESPNOutdoors.com
and click on TIMBERSPORTS, or visit
www.stihltimbersports.com
.
About STIHL Inc.
STIHL Inc. manufactures the world's largest selling brand of chain saws and produces a full line of powerful, lightweight, and versatile handheld outdoor power equipment for homeowners and professional users. STIHL products are sold through independent servicing power equipment retailers from coast to coast – not mass merchants. For more information or for the name of the closest STIHL retailer call toll free 1-800-GO STIHL (1-800-467-8445) or visit STIHL's Web site at
www.stihlusa.com
.
STIHL Inc. is the official underwriting sponsor of the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series presented by Carhartt. The series airs throughout the year on the ESPN2 cable network, and the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Collegiate Series airs on ESPNU.
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