LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Department of Transportation announced the winners of its inaugural "Name a Snowplow" contest.

With more than 300 submissions by Nebraska elementary school students, the list was narrowed down to 17 winners.

According to Shannon Ankeny, NDOT Director of Communications and Public Policy, the creativity of
students’ submissions was impressive, making it difficult to narrow down the list. Some of the winning
names included Blizzard of Oz, Darth Blader, Snowbuster, and Snow Big Red.

“We were excited to give Nebraska’s students the chance to get involved in naming our plows," Ankeny said. "It’s also a great way to recognize our hardworking snowplow drivers and maintenance workers,
who are often the unsung heroes of keeping our roads safe during and after winter weather.”

The selected plows will be branded with their new monikers and have been updated on NDOT’s website where the name and location of each plow is available in real time.

While NDOT has over 600 snowplows, these 17 winners will be the only ones identified by name for now.

NDOT will share additional information on its social media pages, including when the 17 names are
placed on the snowplows.

According to Ankeny, NDOT plans to have another contest next year, with the goal to have 30 new
names to add by early October.

Here are the schools with winning snowplow names:

Blizzard Buster -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Blizzard of Oz -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Darth Blader -- McCool Junction Public School
Dragon Flame -- Our Redeemer Lutheran Staplehurst
Drift Slayer -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Flurry Force -- High Plains Community
Icebreaker 2000 -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Peppermint -- Malcolm Public Schools
Plower Power -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Snow Angel -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Snow Beast -- McCool Junction Public School
Snow Big Red -- Shelby Rising City
Snow Blade -- Emmanuel-Faith Lutheran
Snow Day Hunter -- McCool Junction Public School
Snowbuster -- McCool Junction Public School
Snowbuster -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Snow-tal Annihilation -- Bloomfield Elementary School
Winter Warrior -- McCool Junction Public School