Bandera Electric Journeyman Team Wins Best in State

Left to Right: John Hernandez, David Brice, Kenny Alf, Brad Downum, Javier Salazar, John Rush, Scott Downum, Jesse Salazar

By Melissa Whitfield | BEC Staff Writer

BEC walked away with three first-place and one third-place trophies at the 2018 Texas Lineman’s Rodeo held Saturday, July 21 in Seguin. BEC journeymen Scott Downum, Jesse Salazar and Javier Salazar won first place in Overall Journeyman, Journeyman Mystery Event Number One and Cooperatives categories. In the 45+ or Senior Division, BEC journeymen John Hernandez, Brad Downum and Kenneth Alf placed third.

The BEC journeyman team and BEC apprentices Austin Allen, Justin Albarado and Jaleel Altakouri will now compete in the International Lineman’s Rodeo in Overland Park, Kansas, October 10—13.

“This is simply outstanding, and I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments! Our linemen had to compete against our sister cooperatives, municipalities and investor-owned utilities linemen—a total of 49 journeyman teams and 114 apprentices competing this year,” John Rush, BEC manager of transmission and distribution operations, said. “To have one of our journeyman teams win first place overall is a tremendous accomplishment. All of our linemen and apprentices put forth their best efforts, and our cooperative is extremely proud of these men.”

2018 Texas Lineman’s Rodeo BEC Journeyman Team Competes

The Texas Lineman’s Rodeo takes place every July in Seguin and consists of timed skills tests for apprentices and lineworkers in various electric utilities—contractors, cooperatives, investor-owned utilities and municipals. Linemen not only have to complete a task in a certain amount of time, they must also perform it correctly.

“BEC has supported the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo over the years as a forum for linemen, apprentices and support staff to interact with their peers, share work practices and continually improve the skills necessary to efficiently maintain our electric grids,” Rush explained.

Mark Busby, BEC line foreman, attended his first Texas Lineman’s Rodeo in 2006, started competing in 2007 and was the first BEC lineman to walk the stage at the rodeo. Although Busby did not compete this year, he has remained active in the TLRA. This year he was one of two advisory board members assigned to Mystery Event #2.

“I stay involved with the Lineman’s Rodeo because I feel strongly that being a lineman isn’t a career that just anybody can be successful at. Rodeo competition brings out the best in a lineman. Sometimes they surprise themselves in what they are able to accomplish,” Busby said. “The future leaders in the industry will come from the young men and women that compete.”

BEC Journeyman Team, Left to Right: Jesse Salazar, Javier Salazar, Scott Downum

The BEC journeyman team completed their winning mystery event with a perfect score in 18 minutes, 1 second. They were also the only team with perfect scores in all of the five events in which they competed.

“Safety is what it’s all based on. This job is very unforgiving; if you don’t follow safety protocols, you will get yourself or someone working with you hurt or killed. So the team/apprentice that performs all the events safely and without mistakes in the fastest time wins! It’s as simple as that,” Busby said. BEC also competed in the cooking and apprentice categories. “If you made mistakes, just learn from them and keep moving forward in the pursuit of excellence. If you did well, stay humble and keep pursuing excellence,” Busby advised. “If you want to compete, focus on perfect scores and ‘move those hands every chance you get, mijo’ is what my old foreman used to tell us when he wanted us to hurry up.”

BEC’s cooperative vision is to be the best electric cooperative in Texas and underscores this commitment to the line crews by providing linemen and apprentices an opportunity to measure their skills against their peers from across the state. “Kudos are due to all of the competitors, judges and support staff, as the temperature during this year’s rodeo peaked at 102 degrees as the competition was taking place. A special thank-you to Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative for organizing and hosting the Texas Lineman Rodeo,” Rush said.

“I encourage the public to attend next year and watch all of the competitors demonstrate their skills and comaraderie towards each other. See you next year!” he added.

The wins not only mean the BEC service area has the best lineworkers in the state, it also brings with it scholarships from Northwest Lineman College and Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to help young people in the BEC service territory prepare for a career in the electrical lineworker industry. For more information on the scholarship, visit TLRA.org/Home/Scholarship.

For a complete list of results, visit TLRA.org/Home/Results. For more information on the International Lineman’s Rodeo, visit LinemansRodeoKC.com.