The Navigator entered the water smoothly as if it were made of silk instead of concrete. Resting easily atop the lake at Basil Griffin Park, the black canoe proved the statement on the side of the Western’s Engineering Department’s trailer- “Yes, it floats.”

But one question remained on Saturday – could The Navigator continue Western’s 13-year winning streak at the American Society of Civil Engineers Ohio Valley Concrete Canoe Competition.

The negative answer surprised the team.

Western hosted the conference of 15 schools this year, which also features competitions in areas such as surveying and steel bridge construction.

Members of Western’s concrete canoe team had been working on the 210-pound Navigator since December, preparing to disprove the common certainty that rock sinks in water, Owensboro senior LeAndra Chandler said.

The 17-hour pours, during which team members filled a mold of the canoe with a mix they’d designed to be lighter than water, were tedious, and January paddling practices were cold, she said.

But Western’s team stood waist deep in water beside their vessel knowing they had a reputation to defend, Chandler said.

“This is bigger than basketball for us, and we love basketball,” she said. “This is our biggest sporting event.”

The lakeside seemed more like a sports stadium when Big Red appeared loafing through the trees eating hats and stealing lunches.

Lexington senior Benjamin Webster, a paddler, scanned the crowd of about 200 people before the race. His eyes rested on each of the nine competing canoes. He knew exactly which teams he wanted to beat.

“Everyone,” he said. “We definitely expect to uphold tradition.”

Two male team members guided Western’s canoe to lane 2 for the first of five canoe races.

The University of Akron’s team came charging to the bank covered in war paint, roaring war chants and towing a 12-foot tall flag. Then, Akron team members parked their canoe next to Western’s.

The race began, and two ducks fled to the shore.

It ended quickly in a swarm of splashing and cheers of “T-O-P-S! Tops! Tops! Tops!”

The Navigator crossed the finish line first.

Western’s canoe won every race, but the team didn’t find out the final score until Saturday night.

The results surprised them, said Sarah Bertke, an Owensboro junior paddler and student coordinator of the conference.

The canoe races only count for 25 percent of the competition score, Chandler said. Judges also score a paper written by team members about the canoe’s construction, an oral presentation about the construction and the aesthetic quality of the canoe, Bertke said.

Western’s oral presentation score received a deduction because presenters exceeded the time limit allowed, she said. Team members also unintentionally violated a construction rule while building the canoe.

These deductions led Western to a third place finish in the competition behind Youngstown State University in second place and the University of Cincinnati in first, Bertke said.

“We’re really disappointed, but it lets us know what we need to work on for next year,” she said.

Despite the outcome, Chandler said the canoe’s performance would make any engineer proud.

“You design to see your results” she said. “We’re seeing our results, so we can’t do anything but hold our heads up and smile.”