Jennifer Bennett is familiar with the distinctive sound of a dozen plastic cups being stacked and unstacked at warp speed.
“It’s the sound we heard all weekend,” she said.
Bennett’s son, Porter, spent Saturday and Sunday practicing for the annual Competitive Cup Stacking Tournament that took place Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 27 and 28, at Stevens Elementary School.
Fifth- and sixth-graders from Stevens, Vivian, Maple Grove, Stober, Prospect Valley, Kullerstrand, Wilmore-Davis and Pennington Elementary Schools participated in the tournament.
A fifth-grader at Maple Grove Elementary in Applewood, Porter joined his school’s cup-stacking team a week earlier as a replacement for a student who broke her arm, he said.
Cup stacking is exciting and fun, Porter said.
But the event offers more than that. It improves children’s eye and hand coordination while giving them a taste of competing, according to school officials.
The students practiced cup stacking in gym class, said Cheryl Clay, physical education instructor at Stevens Elementary. Wheat Ridge schools organized the first tournament about four years ago, she said. This is the first time Stevens has hosted the city competition.
“It’s a good sport, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm in it,” Porter said.
Porter and about 100 other participants competed in four-person relay teams, each completing a round of cup stacking and racing for the fastest time. Team members wore matching T-shirts and practiced their skills on the sidelines as parents and siblings watched from the bleachers.
The noise of dozens of cheerful children and the click of cups filled the gym.
Stackers use 12 plastic cups and compete in “3-6-3” or “cycle” stacking. In “3-6-3” stacking, participants create three pyramids. In “cycle” stacking, participants create three pyramids, followed by two and then one, Porter explained.
Felicity Akers, a fifth-grader at Stevens, started cup stacking at school last year. Her best individual time in the cycling event is about 16 seconds, and she practices at home to improve her time, she said.
Akers’ mother, Katie Kloss, had never heard of cup stacking before her daughter brought it home, but she thinks it’s a good activity for her, she said.
“It’s good for hand-eye coordination,” Kloss said. “She’s really into it.”
The activity introduces students to important skills in a fun atmosphere, Clay said.
“It teaches kids how to compete,” she said.
The following fifth-grade students placed in the top eight of four categories. Listed with their name and school is the time it took for them to complete a cup-tasking task.
* Girls 3-6-3
1. Ally Justice, Stober, 4.07 seconds
2. Kaitlyn Autio, Stober, 4.25
3. Olivia Hector, Prospect Valley, 4.31
4. Olivia Grant, Stevens, 4.81
5. Rebecca Schmelzel, Prospect Valley, 4.93
6. Maddie Melvin, Prospect Valley, 4.98
7. Amelia O’Leary, Prospect Valley, 5.15
8. Haylee Story, Wilmore-Davis, 5.16
* Boys 3-6-3
1. Austin White, Kullerstrand, 4.75
2. Devin Watson, Prospect Valley, 4.92
3. Colton Brown, Stevens, 4.99
4. Ben Pettis, Kullerstrand, 5.07
5. Sean Gaovette, Prospect Valley, 5.15
6. Brandon Vongkham, Wilmore-Davis, 5.42
7. Tristan Prewitt, Stevens, 5.49
8. Turner Browne, Maple Grove, 5.50
* Girls Cycle
1. Haylee Story, Wilmore-Davis, 14.86 seconds
2. Jessica Otta, Kullerstrand, 15.03
3. Olivia Grant, Stevens, 15.16
4. Rebecca Schmelzel, Prospect Valley, 15.40
5. Kylie Herr, Kullerstrand, 15.69
6. Christina Mortenson, Prospect Valley, 16.06
7. Sarah Taylor, Prospect Valley, 16.26
8. Amelia O’Leary, Prospect Valley, 16.65
* Boys Cycle
1. Ben Pettis, Kullerstrand, 14.68
2. Dale Nickell, Maple Grove, 14.88
3. Nick Korosec, Prospect Valley, 15.27
4. Tristan Prewitt, Stevens, 15.40
5. Tristan Ortega, Stevens, 15.68
6. Sean Gaovette, Prospect Valley, 16.07
7. Austin White, Kullerstrand, 16.17
8. Turner Browne, Maple Grove, 16.20