Invercargill’s Jahna Crombie was the smoothest operator in Southland on Saturday, beating the rest of the field at the Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice Southland Regional Excavator Operator Competition to emerge as the regional champion.

The contest was held at the Winton Showgrounds, where 10 of Southland’s finest excavator operators demonstrated nerves of steel as they faced challenges designed to test their precision and control to the limit.

“I’m absolutely stoked with the win”, Crombie said. 

“This was my second go at the regionals and I’ve been operating for a few years now so I guess it’s just time in the seat and the ability to think outside the box that makes the difference.”

Familiar, captivating challenges included using an excavator’s bucket to slam dunk a basketball, fish tennis balls out of a trough, and construct a pergola within a confined space. 

Other tough tests of fine motor control required operators to write the word ‘dig’ using a paintbrush attached to the bucket of their excavators, and deftly thread a length of 150mm-wide drainage pipe into a slightly larger 200mm-wide pipe. Beyond the spectacular displays of skill, competitors were assessed on foundational industry knowledge, including a health and safety test and an excavator pre-start check.

CCNZ Southland Branch Chair Chris Gibbs said competitors had to contend with sun, wind and rain at different times throughout the day.

“It was real ‘four seasons in one day’ stuff, and amazing to see the community turn out to support these talented professionals throughout it all. Events like this play a vital role in showcasing civil construction as a career path for the next generation.”

Last year’s winner Brad Fallow from Southroads took home second place this time around, while Jay Arthur from Puna Wai Civil and Riki Kingipotiki from Downer finished third equal.

Crombie will represent Southland against 11 other regional winners at the CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition during the Central Districts Field Days in Feilding from 19-21 March 2026, competing for the title of New Zealand's ultimate excavator operator.

The Supreme Site Works employee said he was looking forward to representing the region for the first time and commented that his decision to change careers from builder to excavator operator in 2019, after suffering a broken leg, had been all worthwhile.

In addition to the main event the Southland competition featured a mini-dig experience to allow budding young operators to jump in the seat of an excavator under expert supervision for a gold coin donation – with all proceeds going to Mates in Construction NZ. 

The CCNZ CablePrice Southland Regional Excavator Operator Competition was made possible by the support of major sponsors including CablePrice, Hirepool, Attach2, Firstgas, Humes, Connexis and Caltex Lubricants.

Southland Champion Jahna Crombie with CCNZ Southland Regional Excavator Operator Competition Subcommittee Lead Regan McRandle.