CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Several Ameren workers based out of Central Illinois are back home with bragging rights after competing in the International Lineman Rodeo.

The event is held every October in Kansas, and this year there were more than 1,300 competitors from seven different countries, including Canada, Brazil and Jamaica. A group of Champaign linemen placed 5th in the journeyman best-of-the-best competition and apprentice Kris Fiedler placed 4th out of 450 competitors in the apprentice speed climb.

He said it was exciting doing something he loves, and even more satisfying was getting admiration from his peers.

“You’re sitting there with all your colleagues, all these people and you see your number get put up on the screen,” Fiedler said. “It’s an extraordinary feeling and then walking across that stage and having 5,000 people on their feet clapping for you, there’s no feeling like it in the world.”

Fiedler said he hopes to compete in the team competition next year once he becomes a journeyman.