By David Fleet

Editor

Goodrich

-The victories are starting to stack up for a pair of local youth.

On Feb. 11, Kyle Rhodes and Sam McKibben, both 10-year-old students at Oaktree Elementary, competed in the World Sport Stacking Association AAU Junior Olympic Games qualifier at Marble Elementary School in East Lansing. About 70 individuals participated in the event.

Cup stacking, also known as speed stacking, is stacking plastic cups in specified sequences as fast as possible. The cups are specially designed to allow for faster times. Participants stack cups by aligning the inside left lateral adjunct of each cup with that of the next. Sequences are usually pyramids of 3, 6, or 10 cups. Players compete against the clock or another player.

“I saw a video on speed stacking so I thought I’d give it a try,” said Rhodes, who has been stacking for about a year. “I was very nervous before my first competition last weekend, but happy with the results.”

Stackers compete in five different categories: The 3-3-3 Stack Cups; The 3-6-3 Stack Cups; The Cycle Stack is a sequence of stacks combining a 3-6-3 stack, a 6-6 stack, and a 1-10-1 stack, in that order. The Doubles Competition involves a team of two stackers working together to complete the cycle stack as fast as possible. Finally, the timed 3-6-3 Relay event combines elements of both the head-to-head relay competition and the individual timed competition.

Rhodes finished third in the 3-3-3 competition; fourth in the 3-6-3, fourth in the Cycle and first in the Doubles. McKibben finished third in the 3-6-3; third in the Cycle and first Doubles with Rhodes as a partner.

Both youth will now move on to junior Olympic competition in Novi this summer.