On the surface, friendships and rubber bands don't seem all that similar. But the one thing they have in common is that when each one is stretched, it becomes more productive.

Max Peña and Ezekiel Pujol know a lot about both rubber bands and friendship.

Last spring, Manheim Township friends Ezekiel and Max each won a national championship at the University of Akron's National Rubber Band Competition for Young Inventors. Max's spiderman web shooter entry took top honors in the science and engineering category, while Ezekiel's pinball machine received the highest award in the arts and leisure division.

Now 14-year-old freshmen at Manheim Township High School, the Venezuelan American boys have been friends almost since birth.

"We were entered in two different categories, so we weren't necessarily competing against each other," said Ezekiel. "The fact that we were doing it at the same time, we'd see each other's creation, and it inspired us. We learned a lot from being together. We were always there to help each other."

"I have no idea how you make a pinball machine out of rubber bands," said Ezekiel's mom, Esther Pujol. "From a parent's perspective, we were surprised every step of the way, how he engineered it, how he taught himself to do things. The whole process was a mystery to my husband and I."

From rubber bands, rubber band systems and other materials, Max built and designed a mechanism that could be mounted on a wrist and shoot a magnet with string attached. Ezekiel's art-decorated pinball machine incorporated multiple rubber band systems to replicate the game's moving parts.

The first round of the competition required participants to write an essay and take pictures of the projects, and the six finalists in each category were required to submit a video about their creations. Ezekiel's and Max's projects were selected from dozens of entries from across the country.

"It was definitely a lot of brainstorming," said Ezekiel. "At first, I didn't know exactly what I was going to make. But in class one day, I just got an idea of a pinball machine. I thought, 'You know, that would be a challenge.' I accomplished even more than I wanted to achieve."

"It was an absolute fun experience," said Max.

Max's and Ezekiel's fathers, Joel and Javier, respectively, were among the first Venezuelans to move to Lancaster County, and that common bond provided the foundation for Max's and Ezekiel's lifelong friendship. Growing up, Ezekiel and Max had engaged in any number of activities together, but never a national rubber band competition.

"(Max) would be my best friend," said Ezekiel. "Being a friend and having someone there for you is the best thing. He knows me, even in my worst moments. We've definitely gotten closer as we've grown up. Even this rubber band contest has forced us to get even more used to each other."

"What we've always told our kids is that the people you spend time with should have shared values," said Esther. "Those are the people who are going to influence you, and those are the people who you are going to influence. They can be positive influences on each other."