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District staff put coordination skills to the test
in annual Equipment Rodeo competition

More than 20 D2 staff members competed on Tuesday (June 6) to see who could navigate heavy equipment through an obstacle course with the most precision and accuracy. Ty Winther of Moscow/Potlatch Mtce. and Mark Schuster of Locsha Mtce each recorded a rare three-peat at the top of the standings.

The Truck Rodeo, held at the Big Eddy Park at the Orofino Dam, consisted of four events: a loader obstacle course, a snowplow obstacle course, written exam and truck inspection.

Twenty-two competitors vied to see who would advance to the final stage, being held in Athol next week. The four winners from D2 (pictured below, left to right) are Ty Winther (2015 & 2016 District winner), Mark Schuster (TOTL winner three years in a row), Eric Nelson and Zach Phenix.

In the loader obstacle course, contestants drive through a course with the bucket set at a certain height. The objective is to avoid hitting cones. Drivers also navigate a serpentine section, drop a basketball from the bucket into a 24-inch culvert and knock a tennis ball off of the top of a construction cone without tipping the cone over. In addition, they scrape a cube off of a steel plate without hitting the plate with the bucket.

The snowplow event involves driving a truck with a snowplow blade on it through an obstacle course. Drivers navigate the truck through a serpentine course, then back up through the same section. They also drive through a section while attempting to avoid construction barrels, and park as close to a white line as possible.

Competitors are judged on how precise they are, and how quickly they complete each section of the course.

Districts 1 and 3 also held their competitions recently. Here are the finalists for Districts 1 and 3:

District 1:
Derek Snider: First Place
Grant Leader: Second Place
Jared Heston: Third Place
Jeff Kiecker, Foreman Winner
.
District 3:
Bryan Ransom
Ivan Harlan
Russ Petersen
Robin Freeman, Foreman Winner (11-time D3 winner & three-time state champ)