by Lidia Grande-Ruiz
Cal Poly Humboldt’s Logging team shined yet again at the SCLC competition, held in the Shasta District Fair & Event Center located in Anderson, CA just south of Redding.
SCLC (Sierra Cascade Logging Conference) is one of the largest Forest Products and Construction Equipment Expositions out there. In addition to being a competition, it also helps young people interested in logging, forestry, and related fields to meet professionals in the industry. Not just make them better loggers, but also make connections which will help them get jobs during or after college.
“SCLC provides the community and students of all ages the opportunity to learn about the forestry industry,” said Vice President Zoey “Dozer” Cardoza. “In addition, SCLC is a huge sponsor for our team.”
She’s majoring in forestry with a concentration in forest operations.
The team holds alumni breakfast to network with Humboldt alumni in the industry.
The conference consisted of three days: The first day of practice with professionals within the industry, the second day of breakfast with the alumni, and a third day with competition.
The competition consisted of various categories: Jack and Jill, Double and Single Buck, Horizontal Speed Chop, AX Throw, Choker Setting, and Stock Saw. Each team member shined in each category to the best of their abilities showing off what they learned not just from practice but also from the local professionals.
One moment when this was proven was when Equipment manager Cassanda Renteria (Forestry in Forest Operations) took the title Belle of the Woods, which is given to the highest female competitor overall in each discipline.
“I was lucky enough to be placed in 3 first [place] and 1 second [place.]” said Renteria. “I was really stoked and grateful that I got the opportunity to showcase all my best events. It’s a great feeling when all the hard work you put in pays off in the end.”
Competition was very fierce as everyone wanted to showcase what they practiced so hard for.
“My goal for the competition was to help my teammates win,” said fellow team member Ed Laskey, Forestry major with a concentration in Wildland Fire Management. “One of my teammates Cass was doing all her events back to back and she ended up winning all of them and then she had to do like a face off pretty much against the second fastest person in her events and we were all getting pretty stressed out because she was getting tired. We were getting worried she was going to pass out but she made it through.”
“The biggest thing for us from SCLC since we have the supervision of these professional timbersports athletes is we are trying to get the most experience we can,” says President Austin Nolan (Wildlife Conservation Management). “So we are not necessarily out there to win the most points in the table.”
CPH ended up being tied with Oregon State. The CPH Logging Team is expected to compete in the AWFC on April 11-16th in Corvallis, OR hosted by Oregon State University.
