FRYEBURG – Woodsmen’s Day at Fryeburg Fair will have a women’s championship beginning this year.

Five champions will be crowned at this year’s 37th annual Saco Valley Woodmen’s Field Day on Oct. 4. The women’s title joins champion logger, champion woodsman, champion trucker and masters champion, which was added in 1999 for men 55 and over.

The four contests used to determine the women’s champion will now mirror the masters’: bucksaw, underhand chop, axe throw and crosscut, which was added this year for both. There were 15 women contestants last year and 17 masters. The 2003 competition attracted 88 men and women, down about 10 percent because of conflicting competitions.

Each champion earns $320, in addition to money awarded for winning an individual event. The payoffs for woodsmen’s events, from first place to sixth place, are $205, $165, $120, $80, $40 and $20. For trucking and skidder events, the amounts are $300, $275, $250, $225, $200 and $100. Points are awarded for six places in determining the championships.

Toby Hammond, who chairs the event with his father, Wilbur, applauded the Woodmen’s Day Committee’s decision to add the championship after the successful event in 2003.

“I was extremely pleased with the way the whole Woodsmen’s Day went. I think it was the most successful one we’ve run,” Hammond said, adding that the addition of the women’s championship will enhance the competition. “We promised them a championship when the number of women competitors reached a consistent level.”

The large tote board used for the harness races will be used to keep track of the points race throughout the day.