Bringing Home the Benjamins

Iowa state champion Casey Mallon wins the top prize in the 2011 NOWRA Roe-D-Hoe at the Pumper & Cleaner Expo
Bringing Home the Benjamins

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His hair was soaked with nervous perspiration; around his waist rested the champion’s belt; in his hand were clutched ten crisp $100 bills.

Casey Mallon, the Iowa Onsite Wastewater Association representative, took on all comers, and for the second time in three months proved to be the best, winning the 2011 National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association National Backhoe Roe-D-Hoe, held at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo in Louisville March 3-5. As Iowa champion, Mallon automatically qualified for the finals.

The competition tested the skills of nearly 200 backhoe operators, competing in three timed events. Contestants had to drop three basketballs through a hoop, move three bowling pins into yellow PVC tubes, and set a golf ball on a string atop a plastic cone.

Mallon, owner of Mallon Excavating in Slater, Iowa, completed all three events in a total of 1 minute, 26 seconds. Having won at the state level, he knew what to expect in Louisville. But did he think that was an advantage?

 

BALL OF NERVES

“No,” said Mallon, 36, who also received a first-place commemorative belt buckle. “I’m still just a ball of nerves.” His technique in the basketball event may have proved the winning strategy. Rather than pick up the balls individually from the front, he swung the bucket from the side, collecting all three at once and, without tipping a cone, dropped them through the hoop.

“I thought, ‘You’ve just got to go for it,’” Mallon said. “I saw a couple of guys yesterday attempting it. It seemed to work for me.”

His greatest challenge was the golf ball event: “It did the same to me in Iowa too. I’m not a good golfer in real life, and I don’t know why I would be a good one in this competition.”

Runner-up Josh Reading, finished with a time of 1:33. He received $400 and a commemorative belt buckle. Reading, 31, works for family-owned M & J Underground and Jean’s Septic of Monee, Ill., and owns JR’s Johns of Grant Park.

Like Mallon, he struggled in the golf event. “That was my nemesis coming in,” he said. “It gets swinging and I just didn’t figure out the technique to get it done fast.”

 

BEATS HIS BOSS

Tim Boswell, 37, placed third with a time of 1:41, nearly 30 seconds faster than his boss, Jerry Stewart, who finished seventh. Boswell cashed in despite missing on his first attempt to put three basketballs through the hoop and had to go back for a fourth try. “It’s nervousness, that’s all,” said Boswell, who works for family-owned Stewart’s Septic Service of Fairfax, Va. “One time I did 1:31 and 2:10 the next time. It’s just how you do at the moment.”

Boswell didn’t have a strategy for the event, just experience: “I’ve been running equipment for about 20 years.” He received $100 and a commemorative buckle. The other finalists were:

• Chris Diesco of New York, 1:43.

• Andrew Riegero of Michigan, 1:51.

• Kenny Lee of Georgia, 1:53.

• Jerry Stewart of Virginia, 2:07.

• Dwain Dantel of Tennessee, 2:13.

• Nick Sergeant of Michigan, 2:15.

• Terry Camden of Indiana, 2:33

• Ralph Williamson of Georgia, 2:37.

 

NUMBERS INCREASING

NOWRA executive director Eric Casey said about 175 operators competed, some going through the course more than once. He estimated that entries were up about 50 from 2010.

“Because we did this last year for the first time with COLE Publishing, people now know to come here and look for it,” Casey said. “That in large measure is why we had more people competing.” Among the younger operators were 6-year-old Caleb Welsford of South Carolina and 11-year-old Michael O’Brian of Ontario.

The Roe-D-Hoe sponsors included Jet Inc., Bio-Microbics, Infiltrator Systems, Norweco, and Presby Environmental. IHI Compact Excavator Sales supplied the three electric backhoes used in the competition. COLE Publishing and the Pumper & Cleaner Expo provided exhibit space, show services and marketing support.

Tom Fritts, Roe-D-Hoe director, said he’s looking forward to next year’s nationals at the Pumper & Cleaner Expo in Indianapolis. “The times were amazing,” he said. “These guys are good, aren’t they?”



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