The University of Nevada, Reno concrete canoe team capped their season with a sixth-place finish at the National Concrete Canoe Competition, facing a tough battle with 21 other top teams from across the country.

The team won the paddling portion in dramatic style with this year's canoe, Aquatone, going undefeated at the regional qualifier and winning four of the five races at the national competition. They took second place for the Final Product category, in which the canoe is scored for aesthetics, buoyancy, durability and a cut-away display. The team placed 10th in the Oral Presentation and in the Design Paper category they were 14th. The four categories are evenly weighted for scoring.

"I am very proud of the team and their hard work, and their success," Engineering Professor David Sanders, the team's faculty advisor in the University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said.

The 20 engineering students logged about 3,600 hours since September in preparation for the competition, which this year included 215 teams participating in regional qualifying events to get to the national championships held at Clemson University in South Carolina.

This is the 10th year in a row the University of Nevada, Reno has competed in the national event put on by the American Society of Civil Engineers. After a sixth place finish in their first national competition in 2006, the team has placed in the top-five eight times, with two first-place wins (one of those last year) and two second-place finishes.

"Our consistent top finishes exemplify the quality and determination of the students in our civil engineering program," Sanders said. "Year after year, the students dedicate a huge amount of time outside their studies on this competition, and it shows in their continued successes."

First place in the national competition was University of Florida, second place was California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo and third place was University of California, Berkeley, which placed second in the Mid-Pac regional qualifier race behind the University of Nevada, Reno team.