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ITD duo compete at national Snow & Ice conference

Two ITD maintenance employees experienced the rigors of national competition for equipment operating and knowledge for the first time this year.

Mike Allen, of the District 2 Bovill maintenance facility, and Pete McGuire, District 4, Fairfield maintenance, joined Rex Hufford at the 2008 Western Snow & Ice Conference in Estes Park, Colo., this fall. Maintenance employees from state, county and local jurisdictions across the country assembled for the annual skills and knowledge test.

Their best showing among new and veteran competitors came in the loader event where Allen was 11th and McGuire was 22nd in a field of 66 contestants. An employee from the town of Breckenridge (Colo.) claimed the loader title.

The ITD delegates combined to finish 23rd among 38 teams in the tandem-axle plow truck event. The winning team came from the Kearney, Neb. Allen and McGuire also took 35th in the single-axle plow truck event.

Allen was 20th in a field of 31 contestants in the motorgrader event; his ITD colleague was close behind in 22nd place.

“In each event, the contestant is required to complete a written test, diagnostic test, and a driving (competition) test,” explains Hufford, who organizes ITD’s annual statewide competition.