Crestline takes home top honors again at Boat Regatta

By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com 

Buckeye Central and elementary students may be the new kids on the block, but Crestline High School is still dominating the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta.

For the fourth year in a row, Crestline took home the Traveling Oar, the annual award handed out to the school that accumulated the most points throughout the competition. Crestline narrowly won the award during Wednesday’s meet, however; Colonel Crawford finished the day one point behind the Bulldogs.

Thirty boats comprised the armada, including two each from Crestline Elementary and St. Bernard. Buckeye Central principal Mike Martin, who has been involved with the regatta in years past through Pioneer, noted that fewer boats sunk this year. He gave special recognition to the elementary students, who successfully sailed their boats without any sinking to their watery graves; the inaugural year of the regatta saw 80 percent of the boats sink.

“I was blown away by all the boats you built,” Martin told the students.

One of the most impressive constructions came from Crestline fifth-grader Jake Bruce and third-grader Brook Rowe. The pair built an X-wing Starfighter and Bruce even dressed the part of the Jedi knight.

“It was really our teacher’s idea,” Bruce said. “We really liked it because the new Star Wars movie had come out.”

Bruce said they used a large piece of corrugated cardboard to construct the Starfighter, folding the piece into a big box using measurements they gathered for the project.

“We took the whole time taping, painting. We put primer on it so the tape would stick because the corrugated had wax on it,” Bruce explained. “I was afraid (of getting in) at first, but once I got into it, it was really fun.”

Crestline principal Keith Strickler, who took his own laps around Colonel Crawford’s William Ferrell Natatorium in the Starfighter, spearheaded the idea to include elementary students into the races.

“We did it because of the emphasis on gifted students,” Strickler said. “We thought this would be a great engineering thing, to be able to take what they’re learning in their math and science and be involved with it – get to apply what they’re doing in the classroom.”

Strickler said the project provided a challenge for young students that needed the extra push.

“That was so much fun with those kids,” Strickler added. “They really did a great job with it. It was just really neat to see them apply (their learning).”

The Crestline students started the project by creating 3-D models on computers before printing them and laying them out on the cardboard. The plans allowed the students to fold the cardboard into the proper 3-D structure to create their boat.

“They did a great job. They did a lot of engineering along the way,” said Strickler.

Senior Allison Biglin was one of six Buckeye Central physics students to compete in the regatta.

”I enjoyed competing against other people and just trying to win. It was fun seeing everybody else’s creative ideas,” Biglin said. She thought staying stable in the center of the boat was the most challenging part. “You wobble a lot when you’re trying to paddle as fast as you can.”

Results from the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta:
Fastest:
1^st – Colonel Crawford #11 (Nick Cook, Dylan Scott, and Ethan Strouse)
2^nd – Colonel Crawford #2
3^rd – Colonel Crawford #9
Most Buoyant:
1^st – Crestline #7 (698 pounds)
2^nd – Buckeye Central #2 (686 pounds)
Most Creative:
1^st – Crestline #8 (Bubba Gump; team of Connor Kurtzman and Nick Johnston)
2^nd – Crestline #1 (gator airboat)
3^rd – Colonel Crawford #1 (race car)
Best Engineered:
1^st – Colonel Crawford #1 (race car)
2^nd – Crestline #8 (Bubba Gump)
3^rd – Crestline #1 (gator airboat)

Results from the elementary races:
Fastest:
1^st – Crestline #2 (Jedi)
2^nd – Crestline #1 (watermelon queens)
3^rd – St. Bernard #2 (flower petals)
4^th – St. Bernard #1 (dragon)
Most Creative:
1^st – Crestline #2 (Jedi)
2^nd – Crestline #1 (watermelon queens)
3^rd – St. Bernard #2 (flower petals)
4^th – St. Bernard #1 (dragon)

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