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Concrete Canoe Team Makes the Top 10
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(June 24, 2003)--When Michigan Tech's Concrete Canoe team set out for the nationals in Philadelphia last week, they hoped to make the top 10.
They achieved their goal and then some, finishing seventh among the elite group of 24 colleges from across North America participating in the 16th Annual ASCE/MBI Concrete Canoe Competition. The event was held June 20-22 and sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and concrete materials supplier Master Builders, Inc.
"It's our best-ever finish," said C. Robert Baillod, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the team's advisor. "The team did a superb job."
MTU has qualified for the national finals five out of the last eight years; their previous best ranking was 12th.
The team floated the canoe that won them the regionals in April. While the vessel was relatively heavy--at 230 pounds, it tied for fattest with the University of Maryland--it had other qualities. "The design was good, and we had great paddlers," Baillod said.
Michigan Tech does not have a rowing tradition and lacks year-round open water. Nevertheless, the team competed strongly this year in the races. "Our best finish was fourth, in the men's distance race," Baillod said.
Teams at the competition adopt themes as part of their presentations, and Michigan Tech's was "Sisu," the Finnish word that, loosely translated, means courage in the face of adversity.
The canoe was painted light blue, and the team's shirts were also the national color of the Finnish flag, honoring the heritage of many of the miners in the Copper Country.
The three-day competition, hosted by Drexel University, proved to be the most dramatic in the event's history when the original race site on the Schuylkill River was flooded due to intense rainfall during the first two days of the event. The races were moved to the lake at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Park.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison took first place in the Concrete Canoe Competition. Other schools participating were the University of California at Berkeley, Université Laval, Clemson University, the University of Oklahoma, Western Kentucky University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, University of Kentucky, Colorado School of Mines, Boise State University, Drexel University, Lamar University, New Mexico State University, University of Rhode Island, Florida Tech, Louisiana State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rowan University, University of Maryland-College Park and Virginia Tech. |
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