Photo provided Justin Sprague and Cory Handt, two drivers with the Bartholomew County Highway Department, won top honors during the first ever Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Snolympics.
Competing against 18 other Hoosier agencies, two drivers with the Bartholomew County Highway Department won top honors during the first ever Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Snolympics.
Justin Sprague and Cory Handt were congratulated during the weekly meeting of the Bartholomew County Commissioners for the victory they recently earned at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds on the south side of Lafayette.
A “Snolympics” is a new concept that mixes competitions for specific truck drivers with professional development. But its origin goes back almost 30 years.
As early as 1996, several counties in the northwest section of the country joined together to host a snow plow driver competition, according to an LTAP website that states the Indiana competition was modeled after an event in Michigan.
In 2001, the Indiana LTAP sponsored their very first statewide Roadeo – a term referring to competitive contests that challenge the driving skills of professional truck drivers. Competitions included the snow plow roadeo and a front end loader competition. Records show the event was held in Columbus in 2010.
For a period of time, LTAP was unable to continue a statewide Roadeo due to a lack of resources, senior training specialist Meredith Camp said. Nevertheless, local roadeos continued to be held until the state decided last year to create a new program in 2023, Camp said.
Besides the competitions, organizers say this year’s revised two-day event also included a conference focused on the needs of transportation crews and supervisors, according to Camp. There was an interactive experience to foster communication, education, and innovation between exhibitors, subject matter experts and local agencies she said.
Sprague and Handt competed as a team on an obstacle course designed for single axle trucks that focused on radius turns, serpentine S curves, parked cars, alley reverse stops and speed traps, Camp said. While each team is given 1,000 points to start, they would lose points for each mistake made by an individual driver, she said.
The normal score of a two-person team at the end of the obstacle course is 502 points, but Sprague and Handt finished with 675 points, the LTAP representative said.
“We want to recognize Justine and Cory’s hard work, and hope they will be ready to come back next year to defend their title,” Camp said.
