Columbus, OH Takes First Place In ACE08 Tapping Contest
Atlanta, GA — Only a half second separated the top three finishers in the men's finals of this year's Tapping Contest.
The team from Columbus (Ohio) Water earned the first place trophy for the second year in a row with a time of 1:22.90. Coached by Mark Eppach, the team included setter Bruce Farley, cranker Patrick Crumley, and Michael Spriggs on copper.
See video here.
Coming in second were the Four Jokers, representing the California – Nevada Section, at 1:23.31, followed by the team from Birmingham (Ala.) Water Works with a time of 1:23.44. Barely two seconds out of the running was the team from the San Antonio (Texas) Water System with a time of 1:24.93.
The Sassy Taps from the Pacific Northwest Section won the women's tapping contest with a time of 2:13.97. Members of the team included Jessica Anderson, setter; Jasmine Varela, cranker; Shawna Gawthorne, copper; and Shawn Dahrens, coach.
See video here.
Taking second was another Pacific Northwest Section team, the Nitro Bits (Cassandra Lashbaugh, Gay Fletcher, Kim Anderson, and coach Larry Gillette), with a time of 2:47.06. The women's team from SAWS came in third with a time of 2:54.50; Caron Hunt, Yolanda Garcia, and Regina Robledo were coached by Ryan Taylor.
Members of the men's teams were:
- Four Jokers (Calif.–Nev.)—Larry Caufield, setter; Christian Pearson, cranker; Mark Luberts, copper; Dennis Lovell, coach.
- Birmingham (Ala.)—Johnny Bittles, setter; Jerry Storey, cranker; Todd Stewart, copper; Ralph Abbott, coach.
- SAWS (Texas)—Monico Munoz, setter; Lupe Paredes, Cranker; Sid Luna, copper; Gibby Campos, coach.
In global competition, the British team from Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water won the World Water Cup Drilling and Tapping contest. Teams from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands each perform a tap using the method for each country. The winning time was 11:09.42. The Columbus (Ohio) Water represented the United States, and a team from Brabant Water came from the Netherlands.
Meter Madness competition earlier in the week saw Eric Kresmery of Elgin, Ill, take first place, assembling a working water meter from a bucket of parts in 40.66s. A time of 45.20s meant Michael Dunavant of Spotsylvania County (Va.) Utilities shaved two seconds off his time from last year, but earned him a second-place trophy for the second year in a row.
Third place went to another Spotsylvania County (Va.) Utilities employee, Ronald Baker, with a time of 53.32s, while Michael Smith, Lansing (Mich.) Board of Water and Light, took fourth place with 1:06.37.
In Top Ops competition, Florida's Palm Coast Water Buoys repeated their capture of the first place trophy by a wide margin. Second place went to Texas' Fort Worth Pride (star ballcaps). Team Birmingham (Ala./Miss.) followed in third place and H2Ohio took fourth.
SOURCE: AWWA