Let he who wishes to beat scissors cast the first stone.

There were plenty of rocks, papers and scissors thrown Friday as students and families from the community crowded onto DT Field at Brigham Young University. They came by foot, by car and Razor scooter to participate in the Omniture Rock Paper Scissors Throwdown. The throwdown was a fundraising event to benefit BYU's Collegia te Entrepreneur's Organization, or CEO as the students call it.

The club's leadership organized the event to raise money for an entrepreneurial "seed fund." The club's vice president of marketing, Travis Tidball, said that the money would be used to help students start their own businesses.

"We want to help students get out of the mindset that they have to work for someone all their life," he said.

Orem-based Omniture sponsored the event, donating $5,000, which went toward the printing of T-shirts and the grand prize. Omniture Chief Technology Officer Brett Error said that his company had a long-standing relationship with BYU's Center for Entrepreneurship and with the school in general. Omniture's founders were both BYU business students, and the company recruits heavily from BYU, Error said.

Omniture encouraged employees to leave work early and participate in the contest. Other local businesses donated gift certificates to be given out as door prizes.

The competition cost $5 to enter and contestants received an "Omniture Throwdown" T-shirt. The event raised an estimated $4,000 with 765 participants on the field.

Lines to play were nearly an hour long at times, with the event taking about three hours to complete. Competition took place in heats of 32 competitors each, with a final round consisting of 26 finalists.

Competitors would face off, with CEO club members refereeing the action. The rule was best two out of three, until only one was left standing.

Children as young as 15-month-old Joseph Fletcher participated, though most were older.

"I had some tough competition," said participant Ryan Scott, "a little girl -- she kicked my trash in two sets."

A confident James Taylor bragged to friend Andrea Westover while waiting in line to participate, "I've never lost at rock-paper-scissors." Westover corrected, "Except to me."

Both lost.

In the end, the competition was winner take all and 18-year-old BYU freshman Mitch Hayashi walked away with the oversized plastic check for $2,500.

"I don't know what to say. I've never felt this before," said Hayashi as he ran is fingers repeatedly through his hair in obvious shock. "I'm blown out of the water, it's insane."

Hayashi, a biology major, says he plans to use the money to pay for college and to help fund his LDS Church mission. Hayashi said that the decision to participate was initially dependent on whether or not he and his friends liked the design of the Throwdown T-shirt.

When asked how he was going to celebrate, he said, "I don't know -- cash the check."

Hayashi vanquished eight opponents in the best-two-out-of-three throwdowns.

The throwdown was likely a record-setting event for the largest rock-paper-scissors contest ever. The event was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records; however, organizers note that there was not a previous record.

Scott Petersen, faculty adviser to the club, said that they planned to make this a yearly event. "It takes an entrepreneur to think of a rock-paper-scissors contest," he said, lauding the work of the clubs leadership.

Ned Hill, dean of the Marriott School of Management at BYU, said that the school expects "all kind of innovative things, so something like this is par for the course."

Nathan Johnson can be reached at njohnson@heraldextra.com.

How To Play

1) Know the forms. There is rock (made by a fist); paper (hand flat with palm down); and scissors (a fist with first and middle finger extended in the shape of scissors).

2) Hold left palm flat, facing up. This is your working platform

3) Make a fist with your right hand. You will use this hand to "throw" your sign: rock, paper or scissors.

4) Begin counting to three with your opponent.

4 1/2) Using your left-handed platform, move your right fist up and down hitting your left hand on counts 1 and 2. On count three throw your sign.

5) Determining a winner. Rock crushes scissors. Paper covers rock. Scissors cut paper.

6) Variations: Many players enjoy playing "best two of three" games. Some prefer to use four counts, and show their sign on the fourth hit.

Tips for winning:

Because RPS is a game of wits, it's crucial to know your opponent.

Does he have noticeable tellsfi

What strategy has she used in the pastfi

Does he throw rock when he's angryfi

Can I make her lose her concentrationfi

Source: The World RPS Society (www.worldrps.com)

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.