Freeman repeats as D-3's top foreman at 'roadeo'
About 100 people, including 39 competitors, and judges coordinators, cooks and managers/supervisors, took part in the District 3 Equipment Roadeo last week.
The annual test of driving and equipment knowledge took place Wednesday (June 1) in Garden Valley. For the second straight year, Robin Freeman, a three-time state champ from the New Meadows shop, came out on top in the Foreman division.
New Meadows lead worker Kraig Spelman repeated as champion in the Transportation Technician division. Kelley Dick of the Sign Crew, took second place, and Marsing lead worker Jeramie Gregory finished third.
Two rounds of scoring through the truck-driving and loader-operator courses were recorded, in addition to a written exam. Participants had 10 minutes to find five “planted” defects in the truck inspection portion of the competition and 10 minutes to answer 10 multiple-choice questions.
Spelman won the Snow Plow event, and foreman Carl Vaughn placed first in the loader event. Many competitors recorded perfect scores on the truck inspection and written exam.
Foreman Division
1. Robin Freeman – 2,763
Transportation Tech. Division
1. Kraig Spelman – 2,690
2. Kelley Dick – 2,660
3. Jeramie Gregory – 2,636
District Maintenance Manager Dan Bryant called the roadeo a great success.
“This year’s roadeo went very smoothly,” Bryant said. “The weather was excellent - neither too hot nor too cold. The mood of the entire event was great.”
Freeman won the statewide truck roadeo three times, placed second once, and finished third two other times. He advanced to the statewide competition all but three times since the event started in 1993.
The four will travel to the state finals June 14 in Athol (District 1).
Photos: (Left to right, below) Jeramie Gregory, Kelley Dick, Kraig Spelman and Robin Freeman; (top) Drivers maneuver a dump truck through an obstacle course.
Published 6-10-2011