UC Irvine sets dodgeball world record

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"? Not exactly.

Students from UC Irvine, who for a time claimed the Guinness world record for the largest dodgeball game, said Thursday they recaptured the title when 4,488 showed up for the welt-producing spectacle.

Photos: Record dodgeball game at UC Irvine

Last year, about 1,745 UC Irvine students wrested the record away from the University of Alberta. Over the next year, however, several institutions of higher learning would lay claim to it, most recently Rochester Institute of Technology, which held a game with 2,136 players.

On Wednesday afternoon, students converged on Anteater Recreation Center fields as part of the university's annual Welcome Week, in which some 6,000 freshmen and transfer students become integrated on campus. The students also provided a rich recruiting ground for busting the record.

The event was so large that a corporate sponsor provided 1,000 dodgeballs while also refereeing the contest.

Guinness world record officials confirmed that a judge was on hand to officially record the event.

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-- Andrew Blankstein
twitter.com/anblanx

Photo: UC Irvine students set a world record for dodgeball, with more than 4,000 participants. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times