Twenty-three school bus drivers from five states competed last week in the 26th annual Southeastern School Bus Road-e-o in Huntsville, Ala. West Virginia drivers placed in the top three spots, with Ed Rollins of Harrison County taking home the championship.
Rollins finished with 653 points out of a possiblel 700. In addition to West Virginia, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky were represented at the event held June 27 and 28.
Mary Slate of Kanawha County, W.V, Schools finished in second place with 644 points, followed by Billy Wiseman also Kanawha County with 640 points. Rounding out the top ten were: Brian Newhouse, Kanawha County, W.Va., 633 points; Tim Eskew, Cullman County, Ala., 630 points; David Riffle, Harrison County, W.Va., 621 points; Siggi Urban, Sarasota County, Fla., 613 points; Patrick Dean, Morgan County, Ala., 610 points; Vol Jones, Cullman County, Ala., 592 points; and Joey Goodpaster, Cabell County, W.Va., 588 points.
“We give out trophies to our top drivers, and the top three receive cash as well,” said Roger Kerns, chairman of the Southeastern School Bus Roadeo. “Our teams are actually put together so drivers are actually pulling for one another as well as competing for themselves.”
He added that teams can consist of drivers from different states, which adds to the cameraderie. Winners are decided by taking all team members scores and dividing the total by the number of drivers on that team. The team with the highest average wins.
Rollins joined with Urban and John Labus of Cabell County Schools West Virginia win the team competition. They were the only team of less than four competitors, so while their point total ranked last they logged the highest average score with 608.333 points. The team of Slate and Jones joined Rhonda Kendrick of Shelby County, Ala., and Curtis Rickles of Jefferson County, Ala., to finish second amongst the teams.
The competitors navigated a 71-passenger, 2008 Thomas Built Buses C2 with automatic drive with air brakes that was donated by Durham School Services, the school bus contractor for host Huntsville County Schools.
