Do you think you could use a backhoe to drop a hanging tennis ball into a 6-inch pipe? How about scoop an egg off a dirt mound and place it on a nest of pine straw? Or pour a drink from a two-liter bottle into a wine glass? That’s the kind of challenge West Columbia’s Derek Cothran faced to win the S.C. American Public Works Association Regional Backhoe Rodeo last Friday at the Columbia Public Works Department. Cothran will advance to the state competition in Greenville in August. Cothran works in West Columbia’s Water-Sewer Department. His overall time was 290 seconds for three events. Second and third place went to Lexington County’s Rickie Derrick and Jamie Mack. Cothran finished third in the West Columbia Backhoe Rodeo May 21. First place went to Chris Cranford. Mike Bollinger won the state title in Backhoe Rodeo a year ago for the City of West Columbia. The competition gives employees who work on backhoes digging, laying pipes and preparing waterlines a chance to show off their skills, said. I.D. Hook, who established the Backhoe Rodeo in West Columbia in the 1980s. He still organizes the event for West Columbia.