"With the elusive number eight running through the back of her mind, Erika Wilkerson readies her hands and widens her stance for the race.

The Hudson PEP Elementary school fifth-grader has never gone faster than eight seconds before. Her best time is almost two seconds slower.

"Go," a classmate shouts, holding a stopwatch and keeping her finger close to the button.

Balanced and focused, Erika's eyes and hands fly into motion.

First she completes a 3-6-3, then a 6-6, then a 1-10-1. Any little alignment error and it's over. Any mental lapse, and the eight-second record will be out of reach.

"Done," Erika calls out, anxiously awaiting her time. "Twelve seconds," her classmate tells her.

Erika shrugs her shoulders a little, gives a smile and starts all over again.

It's called speed stacking, and the sport is growing fast in Longview schools. The technique involves stacking and then unstacking a set of 12 plastic cups in pre-arranged sequences as fast as possible.

The national record is 8.22 seconds for what is known as "the cycle:" a 3-6-3, 6-6 and 1-10-1 combination. The activity is designed to teach eye-hand coordination and to help people develop both sides of their brain.

"I really like this because you race against the clock and you can do relays," Erika said at her home last week. "It's very hard because you have to use both hands together. You have to practice really hard to get good."

Erika, along with four other Hudson PEP students, have been practicing hard for the past five months to prepare for the 2002 Rocky Mountain Cup Stacking Championships, which will be held today in Colorado.

Fifth-graders Abby Hawkins, Will Shields and Dani Garrett and third-grader Chloe Yu will join Erika in competition against more than 800 stackers in regional competition. They will participate in both individual and relay events.

The Colorado tournament is the first to be officially sanctioned by the newly created World Sport Stacking Association.

The Hudson PEP students said they've been practicing at school and again at home almost every day. Will said he decided to give the sport a try because it looked interesting.

"It's fun ... and I think it really does help your eye-hand coordination," he said.

The students have their own personal set of cups that even come with a carrying case.

Hudson PEP students were exposed this year to the art of sport stacking by Helen Smith, the school's health and physical education teacher. Smith said she was interested in stacking because it's an exercise that all students can do.

"It really provides a positive experience for students. They can all be successful with this," Smith said. "I have noticed that many of them really are starting to focus better, and it's building their self-confidence.

"And in addition to it being fun, it really helps kids become more bilateral. Through being bilateral, we are stimulating both sides of the brain."

Smith said the sport is appealing to students because of the competition involved.

"I told the students to just relax in Colorado and most of all to have fun," she said.

Smith said she would like to start a districtwide competition next year."

www.speedstacks.com

About this web site: