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8 teens set world record for playing four square
Four Square World Record
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ON THE COURT: From left, Ben Stoyak, Jonathan Weisberg, Tony Pozzuto and Steve Wiesen play four square at Church Hill Park in Liberty. The four Liberty teens are trying to get into the Guinness World Records for the longest continuous game of four square. They start 9 a.m. Monday and hope to keep playing through 9 tonight.
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FUN GAME: Weisberg shares a laugh with friends while playing the game. In the background is Stoyak.
STAFF REPORT
LIBERTY — Eight teens from Liberty Township broke the record for the longest continuous game of four square Tuesday afternoon.
They played for 28 hours, surpassing the previous record of 25 hours listed in Guinness World Records.
“We’re getting tired,” said Jonathan Weisberg, 18, Tuesday morning, just after the group at Churchill Park made it past the 25-hour mark.
Some of the teens, like Steve Wiesen, 18, had bandages on their forearms covering the areas that had been hitting a rubber kickball for hours, while others, too tired to stand, sat waiting for their next shift.
The eight participants were divided into two four-person teams. Each team played in shifts of two- to four-hour blocks. After each hour, a five-minute break was allowed, according to Guinness rules.
Even in their exhausted state, the record-breaking moment was greeted with applause from players and members of the crowd.
“I think that they’ve been a positive image for Liberty,” said Jodi Stoyak, Liberty township trustee and mother of four-square player Ben Stoyak, 18.
Now, Weisberg will submit proof of the four-square feat to Guinness for review. His evidence will include a video highlight reel that also recorded official time; media coverage; signatures of crowd members; and signed witness statements. Two witnesses, who are not relatives of the players, had to be present during each hour of the record-breaking event.
With the exception of Zach Weisberg, 15, all of the other players, Jeff Banner, 19; Joey Giampietro, 18; Tony Pozzuto, 18; Ryan Nasci, 18; Wiesen; Stoyak; and Jonathan Weisberg, are 2008 graduates of Liberty High School.
The players broke the four-square record on the same day, Aug. 12, that the co-publishers of Guinness World Records, Norris and Ross McWhirter, were born 83 years ago.
The McWhirter twins were running a fact-finding agency in London when they were commissioned by Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, in 1951 to compile what would become Guinness World Records to help settle arguments about questions such as which was the fastest game bird in Europe, according to the Guinness World Record Web site.
The first edition of Guinness World Records was published Aug. 27, 1955.