By Andy Furman
NKyTribune staff writer
The text is carved into the front of the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City. And the kids at Villa Madonna Academy probably knew about it. You know — “Neither snow nor rain not heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Well, those Vikings at VMA stepped up for the 20th annual great Cardboard Boat Regatta, a traditional competition on Lake Villa Madonna – and nothing got in the way.
“This is our 20th year doing the race,” Principal Joe Cordonnier told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. The Ohio native has seen most of them. “I graduated Thomas More (then) College, and have been here since,” he said.
He has served VMA 26 years – this is his first as Principal.
“The Regatta,” he explained, “was a class project and started for educational purposes. It evolved in the Engineering department and later, Physics took it over.”
The physics class’s test of Archimedes’ principle – the study of buoyancy – was the project, he says. “The goal was to predict the water level when the boaters entered the lake.
“Due to the popularity of the study,” Cordonnier continued, “Villa Madonna expanded the study – and later the race – to all students in grades seven-to-12.”
The race yhis year included 16 teams divided into a junior high division and the high school division. The boats were made from cardboard and duct tape – and there is no practice prior to entering. The maximum dimensions are five-feet wide by seven-feet long and the course route is counterclockwise around the Villa Lake.
It was a clean sweep for the young ladies.
Emily Vick, Blakely Bennett, Lucia Adams and Jasmine Cozmanciuc were victorious in their division in their boat dubbed, “Sexy Lexy.”
And why the name?
“We love the Bengals’ Dexter Lawrence,” they all screamed in unison.
As for their vessel, Bennett said it took them a little over a week to build. But the best part of the competition – that was easy.
“We beat the boys,” said Cozmanciuc.
The win wasn’t a fluke as ninth-graders Mia Zumbiel, Natalie Mai, and Lina Koehler won their division.
“We had a late start with constructing our boat,” Koehler told the Northern Kentucky Tribune, “But we had some help – my dad.”
The secret to winning, according to Cordonnier, is one design.
“Yes,” he says, “there is one design that typically wins. But today, none of the winning models used that design.
“Everyone tries something new and wants to be creative.”
Villa Madonna Academy has 200 students enrolled from seventh to 12th grade, notes Cordonnier. The school is a private, Catholic, co-ed K-12 school founded in 1904 by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery.
Learning and Fun: The Great annual Lake Villa Madonna Cardboard Regatta (Photos by Andy Furman/NKyTribune)
