Concrete Canoe 2010 Results

A team of 15 engineering students participated in the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Regional Concrete Canoe Competition Sunday, March 28, finishing fourth overall. Wayne State’s team competed against eight other schools including the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Bryan Kennedy, project manager, is proud of the team’s performance. “Our paddling team’s performance was simply phenomenal,” he says. “Developed programs like Michigan Technological University and Ohio Northern University pour hundreds, perhaps even thousands of hours into practice paddling — and our team managed to threaten second place with more efficient, but significantly less preparation. We were able to write a solid technical report, which was well-received and placed third in its scoring category.”

The team also came in third place in the paddling category, fourth in oral presentation and fifth in final product.

Devin Partrich, a freshman in civil and environmental engineering, is a paddler for the team. “It sounded like an awesome new fun thing to do,” she says of how she got on board with the team.

Luke Mackewich, a civil and environmental engineering senior and returning member, is the paddling captain in charge of organizing practices as well as helping out with general fabrication.

Partrich says Mackewich taught her and the other paddlers how to steer, turn and keep a low center of gravity. They also learned their roles — the front paddler never switches hand positions, unlike the paddlers in the back. During practice at Ford Field Park in Dearborn, the team prepared by racing regular canoes and using buckets as buoys to resemble the sprint course’s layout, Partrich says. She adds that there weren’t many practices but enough to learn the basics.

Partrich isn’t new to canoeing, though. “I’ve canoed quite a bit, going camping, but never competitively,” she says.

Wayne State’s canoe is about 20 feet long and 31 inches wide. It weighs 225 pounds, down from 300 last year. It was dubbed “Heidtke’s Last Stand” in honor of Thomas Heidtke, associate professor of civil engineering, who is retiring in May. Mackewich says the professor is very well-liked by students. Heidtke came out to support the team at this year’s event.

Of the five total races during finals competition, there were women’s teams, men’s teams and co-ed teams. Mackewich says the co-ed race was shortened due to inclement weather. Wayne State finished fourth in that category.

The men — paddlers Mackewich, Anthony Vitti and Martin “Skip” Brosnan — placed third in sprint and fourth in endurance (both final competition races). During the sprint qualifying race, the team earned a second-place score with a photo-finish comeback by edging out Ohio Northern University, last year’s overall winner.

The women — paddlers Partrich, Nicole Ball and Era Raizada, placed third in sprint and third in endurance during final competition.

The Last Stand and crew had to compete against not only teams from other schools, but also bad weather. “It started raining at the end (of the competition), and we all got soaked from the waist down,” Partrich says.

Partrich says strong currents didn’t help either. The water forcefully disagreed with the paddlers who often needed to readjust and had a hard time keeping their canoe straight.

Mackewich, Vitti, Partrich and Ball competed in every race during their respective events. In the end, Partrich says they were “numb, wet, tired, and exhausted,” but happy with their overall fourth-place finish, which bested last year’s fifth-place.

“I think we could’ve done better,” says Partrich. “We need more practicing so we can get our technique down. We weren’t rowing in sync with each other.”

But the team did just fine elsewhere. “Our turns were really sharp,” says Partrich. “Overall, we did an excellent job. That was really exciting. The weather was a drag, but it was a lot of fun.”

Partrich says there’s room for improvement next year. Her list of changes starts with time management and ends with gaining more team members.

The concrete canoe races were held at Ramona Park in Portage, Mich.