WKU Wins Regional Concrete
Canoe Competition For 9th Year
April 07, 2004
Bowling Green, Ky. - For the ninth consecutive year, Western Kentucky University's concrete canoe team is paddling to the national championships.
Western's "Matrix Reinforced" finished first in every category last weekend at the Ohio Valley Regional Concrete Canoe Competition in Pittsburgh. The civil engineering team advanced to the national competition June 17-20 in Washington, D.C.
The concrete canoe team has placed in the top 10 nationally for the past four years, including a fourth-place finish in 2002. Last year's team finished sixth in the nation and its canoe "Illusion" won best finished product.
The 2004 regional competition included Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Youngstown State and Cincinnati.
"The concrete canoe team's success is truly reflective of the entire WKU family because these students must use the skills they have obtained from their entire curriculum which spans all the colleges of the university," said Matthew Dettman, team adviser and the James D. Scott Professor of Civil Engineering.
The concrete canoe competition includes academic (design paper and oral presentation) and athletic (canoe racing) portions. The project also gives students hands-on experience in design, construction, management, problem solving and teamwork.
This year's concrete canoe team (seniors unless noted) includes: Justin Flickinger of Glasgow, team leader; Jon Kemp of Auburn, hull design and structural design; Jared Nix of Bowling Green, construction and oral presentation; Matt Rogers of Columbia, paddler; Shannon Hayes of Bowling Green, paddler; Sara Noe of Louisville, paddler;
Tracy May of Louisville, paddler; Deneatra Hack of Morgantown, design paper; John Sewell of Bowling Green, design and construction; Travis Spidel of Bowling Green, construction; Will McDonough of Calhoun, construction; Kyle Hunt of Morgantown, design and construction; Darren Stewart of Caneyville, design and construction; Travis Carrico of Springfield, construction; junior James Jones of Somerset, construction; Sean Sheffer of Morganfield, safety administrator.
For more information, contact Matthew Dettman at (270) 745-2462. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
