Owego Native to Travel to Australia for U.S. National Lumberjill Team

Alexis Halstead, Owego native and OFA graduate of 2013, will be heading to Australia for the Sydney Royal Easter Show (SRES) this April to compete with the U.S. National Lumberjill Team (USNLT).  She will be competing in the international relay and individually in six different events.  

Each year the best Lumberjills in the nation are selected. In 2016, the SRES’s USNLT won the Woman’s International Relay event – an achievement that has not been attained since 2004. 

The honor and prestige to represent the United States and fellow woodchoppers in international competition and defend the hard-earned 2016 title are the driving force bringing together the Lumberjills of the 2017 USNLT. The USNLT is a team compromised of seven women, ranging in location from New York to the State of Washington. The relay team events will be compromised of chopping, team sawing and single sawing.  

Alexis is a senior at SUNY Cobleskill, where she competes with the college woodsmen club. She was the 2016 women’s STIHL collegiate champion.  

Currently, she interns at Beak & Skiff 1911 Hard Cider / Apple Orchard in Lafayette, one of the largest and highest profile apple orchards in New York. This upcoming summer she will be competing at the Tioga County Fair on Aug. 5 and traveling the nation with her performance group, The Axe Women of Maine.  Alexis has started a GOFUNDME.com page under Alexis’ Team USA Woodchop Trip, to make donations.  

There will also be raffle tickets for sale. Tickets can be found at The Wine Connection or Scott Smith and Son. Tickets are $10.00 a piece for a trip to Williamsburg, Va. in April 2017. The costs for this competition and travel are covered by each individual team member.