From what we can tell, Nevada began competing in the concrete canoe competition as early as 1979.  Old photographs show the team breaking ice on Manzanita Lake to practice paddling their concrete canoe, Blue Goose.  Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, our university made a steady appearance at conference competitions with canoes such as Young's Modulus II and Expedition.  Unfortunately, beinginning in 1998, the ASCE Student Chapter did not have a concrete canoe; for the following seven years, the history of concrete canoe at UNR was lost.

After this seven year absence at regional competitions, Kevin Crifasi and Michael Taylor revived the Nevada Concrete Canoe team in 2005. The team started from scratch, with no previous hull designs or concrete mix information.  In addition, funding was a major obstacle to overcome.  After mimicking form construction and concrete placement techniques from other teams, the 2005 canoe, All In, was born.  Overall, it was vessel worthy of a first year effort. The canoe was fast, she resisted rugged transportation over the Sierra Nevada Mountains (honestly, there was a blizzard that year), and she made it through the races in one piece. Once again, the canoe program came to life at the University of Nevada.

Nevada placed 5th overall in the 2005 Mid-Pacific Coference Competition hosted by Sacramento State University.  Afterwards, the team was excited to begin construction on the 2006 canoe, but experience gained at the competition  showed them that many changes were needed to be competitive in the Mid-Pacific region.  Every aspect of Nevada's performance—aesthetics, mix design, oral presentation, design paper, and hull design—still needed improvement.

The success of the 2006 team began with many veterans form the previous year, including: Chad Lyttle (project management, oral pesentation, and co-chair of construction), Michael Taylor (mix design specialist), Corbin McFarlane (hull design engineer), and Adam McNutt (co-chair of construction). Several paddlers also returned for the 2006 season, including: Chad Lyttle, Brian Fitzgerald, Bryan Truce, and Kara Bymers.  Between the leaders of the program, countless hours were spent turning the UNR Concrete Canoe team into a true contender for the Mid-Pacific region.  The 2006 canoe, euphoria, cruised through the Mid-Pacific Conference nipping at the heels of the perennial winner, the University of California, Berkeley. Nevada placed 1st in the Business Presentation, 2nd in Final Product, 3rd in Design Paper, and 2nd in the races. When the final scores were tallied, Berkeley had edged Nevada by only 0.6 points!  The effort of both verterans and new recruits enabled the University of Nevada, Reno to attend the National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC) for the first time in school history.

At the 2006 NCCC held in Stillwater Oklahoma, Nevada’s Concrete Canoe Team surpassed all goals for a first year national team. Nevada placed 6th overall (out of 23 competing at the national level), 1st in Business Presentation, 4th in Design Paper, and received the Spirit of the Competition Award.   The team's incredible performance created excitement and momentum in the following years.

In the fall of 2006, almost all of the team members (including several graduate students) returned to help with the 2007 canoe, Cerulean.  That year, Nick Maxon was appointed Project Manager of the team.  His dedication to the project was indescribable; Nick participated in Mix Design, Construction, Paddling, Presentation, and Project Management.  As a show of dedication, he (and several other construction members) stayed at the lab the entire night before casting the practice canoe, and missed an epic Aerosmith concert.  The hard work of every team member (most notably: Adam McNutt, Michael Taylor, Corbin McFarlane, Christine Harms, Kelly Doyle, and Brian Fitzgerald) paid off in April when the Nevada Concrete Canoe Team placed first in the Mid-Pacific Conference for the first time in history.  The team nearly swept the competition, placing first in every catergory except overall races.

Nevada's second national appearance was at the 2007 NCCC in Seattle, WA.  The team was ecstatic to win first place in the categories of Final Product and Design Paper.  In addition, the paddlers placed fifth overall in the races (placing in the top ten in every race).  Incredibly, the Nevada Concrete Canoe Team won third place overall at the 2007 NCCC, and took home $1500 in scholarship money.  It should be noted that the team narrowly missed first place overall by exceeding the alotted time limit of the oral presentation; the seven second error cost the team all of their presentation points and a chance to compete in an international competition.  Regardless, Nevada did not have any hard feelings about the mistake, and they were happy to see the University of Wisconsin, Madison win first place at the NCCC.

The results of the 2007 competition created a stir among younger prospective members, which started the following year with much needed enthusiasm, excitement, and fortitude.  The goal of the 2008 concrete canoe team was to finally pass knowledge on to younger members, in hopes of continuing the new found tradition of concrete canoeing at the University of Nevada.  Several new members contributed to the 2008 canoe, Argentum (including veterans Kelly Doyle, Corbin McFarlane, and Tarin Strickler, and newbies Suzanne Durr, Mark Cukrov, Tiffany Reichert, Katie Bowden, Robbie Coomes, and Andrew Durham).  Once again, the team's hard work paid off at the Mid-Pacific Conference when the team placed first overall.  However, the competition was close with Cal Berkeley and San Jose State University nipping at the heels of the Nevada Canoe Team the entire way. 

At the 2008 NCCC in Montreal, Quebec, Nevada made concrete canoe history when they placed first overall in the national competition, beating out top contenders such as the University of Wisconsin Madison, the University of Florida, Ecole de technologie superieure, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  That year, the team placed first in Design Paper, second in Final Product, and third in Presentation.  In addition, the paddlers placed second overall in races (a feat never thought possible by any Nevada veteran).  The team is very proud of its history and all of the people that made it possible over the past four years.

Now more than ever, the bar has been set for future teams and we hope this momentum will continue for years to come.  To see the national statistics for the University of Nevada Reno's average NCCC performance (provided by UAH), CLICK HERE.