2012 Miracle Yearbook

Canoe - watersarecold and murky,buttheprize is tempting...studentsplungeintoCedarLakeand ost and Stephen Bennent dash across the finish line,claiming first place along with their fellov. best. O ne roll of packaging tape and one roll of cardboard - it doesn't look like much. At Cedarville, these supplies could build a canoe that would traverse Cedar Lake,carrying two rowers and a pas- senger. Canoes shaped like bathtubs with a narrow bottom and high sides, like rafts with a wide bottom with low sides, or like some other nautical design all entered in the race,as contestants hoped to prove their design the winner.Thirty-one engineering canoes and five department canoes entered this year. Small girls found themselves cajoled into beingpassengers because the lighter the weight, the faster the canoe and the less likelihood it would sink. They hunkered down in the center, trying not to affect aerodynamics, arms shaking as they stabilized the tipsy canoe. This year Stephen Bennett, Joel Yost, Daniel Cape, and Isaac Shaffer of Team 29 carried the victory, taking only 2 minutes and 33 sec- ondsto get to shore.Afew brave soulsstood thigh-high in water to help the boaters carefully ease into their canoes.Vigorous or misplaced pressure could destroy the fragile lining, ruining the chances of victory before leaving the starting dock.Even with such precautions, some canoes sank mere yards from the finish line. The students paddled faster, desperate to reach their goal, so close yet so far away. Some managed to row their dilapidated paper hull to shore by sheer force of will, while others were left to slosh the last few yards on foot, paddle in hand, paperremains dispersing under the surface. It's a Cedarville tradition, and even non-engineering alumni will recall the competition, its glorious victories, and disgraceful defeats.