Students from the University of Missouri-Rolla recently showed their engineering skills designing, constructing and racing a concrete canoe, placing second overall in the Mid-Continent Concrete Canoe competition in Manhattan, Kan., the site of this year’s regional Concrete Canoe Competition.

UMR Concrete Canoe Team

The second place finish was the best in team history. The competition was held April 23-26. In addition to the team’s accomplishment, team members Kris Wolfe of Linn, Mo., and Ron Declue of Bourbon, Mo., placed first in the men’s distance race. The team placed second in the faculty race, co-ed race, team spirit and in oral presentation. They placed third in design paper, men’s and women’s sprint competitions, and in the final product judging of the canoe. The University of Oklahoma finished first in the overall competition.

The race is an annual event sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and Master Builders. The team competed with schools from Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Arkansas, and Missouri. Teams were not only judged on sprint and endurance races, but also on a technical report and oral presentation.