By Natalie Aldridge
A group of BYU construction management students received a citation from the House of Representatives Wednesday for outstanding performance at a recent regional competition.
Legislators at the state capitol stood and applauded the students, who won first place in the design building and heavy civil building categories at the Associated Schools of Construction competition in Reno, Nev., Feb. 6.
Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, who donned a construction hat during the presentation, exercised personal privilege on the floor to allow the students to appear before the House. He said he was pleased with the exemplary work the students have done.
?BYU has the distinct honor of winning the competition for the past three years,? he said. ?We extend best wishes for continued success.?
The students appreciated the recognition for what they said involved plenty of hard work and stiff competition.
?I know it sounds nerdy, but I don?t think any of us could have been more excited if we?d won the Super Bowl,? said Casey Gonzalez, a senior from Corvallis, Ore., and a member of the heavy civil team.
Each team received a specific construction task to complete in one day. The race to finish the projects began at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. The design building team designed a suburban police station and the heavy civil team designed a fish run. Both groups were required to specify how to make the structure, give cost estimates and provide a schedule for construction.
Jon Peterson, from Naperville, Ill., a member of the design building team, said team members were restricted to the hotel rooms they were working in during the competition.
?There was no outside knowledge,? he said. ?It was basically the knowledge the six of us had.?
Peterson said another tough aspect was the expertise of judges.
?The judges are the actual contractors who did the jobs so they have first-hand knowledge of what it took,? he said.
Dusty Larsen, from Alpine, was the heavy civil team leader. He said BYU?s teams this year were different from those he competed with in previous years.
?The reason I think we won this year is teamwork,? Larsen said. ?That?s the difference.?
Mike Duff, from Paul, Idaho, said team members were ecstatic when they won.
?It was a challenge, it was intense and it was awesome,? Duff said.
Both teams are competing at the national competition in Orlando, Fla., March 14-18.
