Students from one Johnston County middle school have something to brag about today. They set a new Guinness Book World Record Friday afternoon at their school.
A total of 89 students from Cleveland Middle School broke the record for the most players in an Ultimate Frisbee Exhibition. The previous record was 82 participants from a school in the United Kingdom. The record was broken by 7 with 89 players.
The game started at 3:00 pm and ended at 5:00 pm. Guinness allowed only 5 to 7 players from each team to be on the field at any given time and only 3 substitutions were allowed at any one time. The final score was 26 to 13 but everyone on both teams was a winner.
Three judges were on hand to audit and attest the results. They included Erwin attorney Timothy Morris, Selma police officer Justin Vause and Johnston County deputy sheriff Cody Stevens.
Blair Palko, a U.S. History teacher at Cleveland Middle, organized the event as a way students could not only study history but to make history.
The Ultimate Frisbee Exhibition was sponsored by an 8th grade club at the school that calls themselves “SMS” for Seriously Motivated students.
“These students are dedicated on serving their student body while connecting our school with the community,” Palko said. “The students in this club, themselves, voted to raise money for the Johnston County Animal Protection League. So participants in the world record attempt paid a small entrance fee that will be donated to the local cause. They raised more than $500 with this event.”
After the conclusion of the games, many of the players ran up to Palko with donation buckets placed by the entrance, excited about the amount of money that parents and spectators donated at the gate.
“SMS is the only club at our school where the students get to chose what they do and raise money for, so they took it very seriously to raise awareness around the school for the cause. They did a great job with this,” Palko added.
Guinness will certify the results in about 8 weeks. Photos by John Payne
