Mines Concrete Canoe Team Earns Top Finish at National Competition

The South Dakota Mines Concrete Canoe Team recently capped off an amazing season by recording what is believed to be the program’s best performance in more than 20 years at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Civil Engineering Student Championships, earning top-10 finishes in every paddling event and placing third nationally in canoe design.

The national competition, held at Fairmont State University in Fairmont, W. Va., brought together some of the country's top civil engineering programs, competing in engineering, construction, technical presentations and racing events.

“It was very exciting watching the team compete and perform so well at nationals,” said Kirstie Petersen, Mines director of CAMP. “I saw how much work they put into this year, and it was so great to see how energized they were and how supportive they were to their teammates.”

With top 10 placements in all racing events and a third-place finish in canoe design, Petersen believes this year’s competition was one of the top finishes of the team in more than 20 years, demonstrating that they are capable of competing against some of the nation’s largest engineering schools. The university’s concrete canoe team dominated the competition in the late 1990s and early 2000s, finishing among the top five for several consecutive years and claiming a first-place finish in 1995.

“Competing against larger universities was a little intimidating, but we all had confidence in our team and our canoe,” said Collin Dougherty, a senior civil engineering major. “We did so well at regionals that we had no doubt that even a little school in Rapid City could compete with anyone.”

The national success capped an extraordinary year for the Mines ASCE student chapter. Earlier in the season, the university hosted the ASCE Rocky Mountain Student Symposium, with both the concrete canoe and steel bridge teams qualifying for the national competitions.

“It was a huge year for ASCE at Mines,” Petersen said. “It takes tremendous effort to host regionals, but then to also compete at such a high level is really incredible. They worked so hard, and I’m proud at all they accomplished this year”

For Dougherty, one of his most memorable moments came during the men’s sprint. where he and his teammate, recent mechanical engineering graduate Duram Kelly, earned fifth place. “This was my first national competition, and it was a true test to see if our canoe could keep up with much larger schools,” he said.

Another moment that sticks with both Dougherty and Petersen is the announcement of Mines third-place finish in canoe design. “I was able to watch the team's reaction to earning third place in canoe design and the award was completely unexpected,” Petersen said. “Their reaction was incredible to watch. The whole auditorium started chanting ‘SD Mines’ with us, too, which made it all the better.”

While it has been a big year for the program, the team is already looking forward to next season. After reviewing feedback from judges, members identified opportunities to strengthen the written technical report, an area that could elevate the team even higher in future competitions.

“We are very excited to see how we can improve for next year,” Dougherty said.