Meet cup stacking extraordinaire from Libertyville
Trevor Jean was a first-grader when he sat on the edge of his bleacher seat and watched his older brother win the cup stacking championship at Butterfield Elementary School four years ago in Libertyville. Now it's his turn.
“I want to beat his record,” Trevor said. “We carry on a legacy of cup stacking.”
Tim, now a high school freshman, said if his record is going to be broken, it might as well be by his little brother.
“I'd be pretty proud of him,” he said, and recalled when Trevor ran from the stands in 2011 and hugged him after he set the school record with a time that still stands.
Like many students, the Libertyville brothers were introduced to cup stacking at school about the same time the sport was becoming a viral sensation, thanks to stackers around the world posting videos of their fastest times online.
The boys' oldest brother, Trent, now 15, was an original member when the club was formed at Butterfield in 2007. He was in the championship match two years in a row.
Cup stacking, or speed stacking, involves stacking and unstacking 12 plastic cups in a certain sequence as quickly as possible. Competitors build pyramids of different sizes and take them down as the clock ticks. The trick, says Trevor, 10, is to not spend any time unstacking.
“You take two cups and go down, and down,” he explained while sweeping his arms to show how a player will use the top cups to collect the others. “It really helps with your hand coordination.”
In the club at Butterfield, Trevor is one of more than 50 kids who eagerly come to school an hour before the start of classes twice a week to compete against the clock and each other. The gymnasium is a noisy beehive of moving colors and clacking cups.
“These kids start their day with a lot of energy and concentration,” gym teacher Pat Krech said while walking through the crowded tables and announcing times with a loud speaker over the pop music echoing through the gym.
“They are getting a great start to their day.”
Trevor's best time is about a half second off his brother Tim's school record of 8.6 seconds. He is considered by his peers to be about the fastest cup stacker in the school.
His chance at the official title comes at the end of the school year. While his brothers have put their competition cups on the shelf, Trevor continues to challenge himself as he challenges his classmates.
“I'm going to try to beat his (Tim's) record and try to win the championship this year,” Trevor said with determination. “I think he would be mad and proud.”
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