As Laurie Leach glances around the autumn forest, her cheeks swollen with smokeless tobacco and teammates chanting verbal encouragement, a wet, brown wad of tobacco juice propels from her mouth and lands near her desired target 10 feet away .

Leach, a senior in forestry from Springfield, vice president of the Forestry Club and member of the SIUC Conclave Team, said the tobacco spit is one of her favorite competitions in the 46th annual Midwestern Foresters Conclave.

Axes, bucksaws and innumerable wooden chips littered the earthen floor at SIUC’s Touch of Nature. Touch of Nature was the site of the event Saturday where teams from nine universities gathered to maim logs, toss pulp and spit tobacco.

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I chew (tobacco) until I can’t talk anymore, Leach said. Then I just spit.

It’s all about a good quantity spit. The bigger the spit, the more coverage you’re going to get.

The Conclave Team is comprised of about 40 individuals who began practicing for the events in early September. The winning team for every event gets points added to its score.

We do it because we like to do it, Leach said, not because we have to.

With a first-place finish on Sunday, the SIUC Conclavers have won the annual competition for the last six years.

Fatland said the team solidarity in the competitions comes from team unity and a love for the outdoor sports such as the popular two-man bucksaw competition.

A bucksaw is an exceedingly large, metal-toothed blade used to cut down trees. In the two-member competition, both the individuals work to develop a cutting rhythm so that they can saw through a 14- inch log.

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Greg Johnson, a senior in forestry and outdoor recreation from Des Plains and Conclave Team captain, participated in a two-person bucksaw competition titled The Jack and Jill Bucksaw.

The thrill and the adrenaline of the bucksaw competition drives you on, he said. You have to know your partner. You aren’t supposed to push the saw, you let your partner pull it.

Johnson’s partner in the competition was Lisa Fatland, a junior in forestry from Sandwich.

Fatland said bucksawing gives her a rush because it takes a certain sense of urgency to cut through a 14-inch log in less than 30 seconds.

Some of the things we do here may look easy, like the log roll, she said. But these events are not easy.

The log roll took place in a sunken slab of land surrounded by trees and autumn leaves. Participants used wooden sticks with metal ends used to roll and pick up the logs when making turns.

In another location, people were engaging in the challenging Speed Chop. With the smell of wood chips permeating the air, participants donned metal boots, grabbed their shiny axes and cut through logs as fast as they could.

Anyone can become a member of the Conclave Team for $40 a semester. Fatland said members of the conclave simply love the outdoors and good competition.

This stuff we’re doing is common-sense stuff, she said. It gives us a chance to be around our friends and do stuff in our professions, like sawing and chopping.

To join the team, call Greg Johnson at 529-5799. Membership is $40 a semester.