Students compete for glory, grades during annual Homecoming boat race
Teams get ready to compete in Central Michigan University's Homecoming boat race Oct. 6 at Rose Ponds.
Hundreds of spectators gathered as university students hopped into cardboard boats and sailed away.
More than 30 teams competed in groups of five or six in an over 20-year-old homecoming tradition: Central Michigan University's cardboard boat race. Teams from the school of engineering and technology and S.T.E.M. Registered Student Organizations competed at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 at Rose Ponds.
Engineering students competed for a grade, while other participants competed for fun.
“(Society of Physics Students) always (competes) and they needed people for the boat last year, so I raced last year and we tipped immediately leaving the shore, so now it’s just a pride thing. We need to do better than we did last year,” said Saginaw senior Megan Dubay.
Teams were instructed to start from the northernmost end of a pond, cross over to a second pond, row through the water and then hit the finish line. Unfortunately for some teams, tipping and leakage occurred early on, while others experienced a dry ride.
“It’s an academic project. 80% of the grade actually is related to the design process and reporting....only 20% is actually related to how far they actually get." said school of engineering and technology faculty Adam Mock.
In heats of six, five teams brought their boats to the edge of the pond, strategically got into threm and paddled away with cardboard paddles. Despite each boat's short lifetime, many teams put days and hours into creating and calculating the perfect vessel.
“(The boat) took about 3 days and 2 hours and then we went off some advice the older people gave us and just kind of started building.” said Rochester freshman Paige Ragnan.
Ultimately, teams hoped their calculations were correct and that they would not sink in the pond.
Team "Fire Up Ships" took home the victory, making its way fully across both ponds in just under six-and-a-half minutes. The team now ranks thirteenth in the history of the boat race.
