CoMO Cubing Winter 2024

Ninety-seven competitors gathered as the early stages of the 2024 calendar took shape at Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, Missouri, USA. Serving as an important winter benchmark, CoMO Cubing Winter 2024 brought together a packed field eager to test their speed against the clock across 12 fast-moving rounds. For seasoned contenders and newcomers alike, the single-day gathering on February 3, 2024 offered an ideal proving ground to establish personal baselines and gauge form for the long speedcubing season ahead.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew all 97 competitors through three demanding rounds of Rubik's Cube solving. Ellery Dillon captured the title with a tournament-winning average of 8.18 seconds, backed by a sharp 7.38 best single in the final. Alexander Gager secured second place on the podium with an 8.98 average, while Edward Vakula rounded out the top three at 9.44. The high standard of 3x3 results demonstrated that midwestern solvers are already operating at mid-season sharpness despite the winter cold outside.

In the 2x2x2 Cube event, Braxton Lee Fowler delivered an emphatic performance to lead a field of 82 entrants. Fowler took first place with a blistering 2.17 winning average and a 1.28 best single. Vakula earned his second podium finish of the day by claiming second place with a 2.53 average, while Gager followed closely in third with 2.79. The single-round format gave competitors no margin for error, demanding immediate speed from the very first solve across the tables.

Larger puzzles and geometric challenges added variety to the schedule, testing different facets of turning dexterity. Vakula returned to the top of the standings in the 4x4x4 Cube, posting a winning average of 39.65 and a 37.12 single across two rounds of 57 competitors, ahead of Zachary Johnson with 40.59 and Katie Hinkley with 42.09. Megaminx saw Gager take the crown among 43 participants with a 42.50 average and a 39.72 single, finishing ahead of Hinkley at 46.67 and Isaac Lindsey at 55.64.

In the specialty disciplines, Trenton Cuzick topped a competitive Skewb bracket of 59 entrants, recording a 5.59 average and a 4.79 single to edge out Joel V. Stratemeyer with 6.05 and Johnson with 6.34. The complex 3x3x3 Blindfolded discipline, requiring intense memorisation and precise execution without sight, concluded with Alexander Wheeler taking first place with a single of 1:48.25. Cuzick added another podium by claiming second with 3:31.24, followed by Jeremiah Storm in third at 3:39.38.

Beyond the podium battles, the depth of the weekend was highlighted by remarkable individual milestones across the tables. Alex Prohaska completed six events and posted a massive 4x4x4 Cube personal best of 1:09.08, shaving 51.8 percent off his previous mark while also making his first ever attempts in Megaminx with 1:58.56 and 3x3x3 Blindfolded with 3:45.62. Jeffrey Coston tackled five events and cut his 2x2x2 Cube best by 44.7 percent to 4.35, alongside first attempts in Skewb with 15.39 and Megaminx with 3:30.52. Mason Awwad logged first ever attempts in Skewb with 10.40, 2x2x2 Cube with 5.38, and 4x4x4 Cube with 1:24.30. Pierce Daugherty dropped his 3x3x3 Cube time by 43.7 percent to 20.73 and improved his 2x2x2 Cube mark to 5.85.

Progress continued across every corner of the tournament hall as competitors broadened their event repertoires. Joseph W. Passer took on six events, securing a Skewb personal best of 4.97, an improvement of 40.7 percent, and registered his first attempt in 3x3x3 Blindfolded at 3:35.93. Benjamin Cherry advanced his Megaminx mark by 32.8 percent to 3:14.84 and logged his first official 4x4x4 Cube solve at 2:51.27. Nicholas Zayd took 44.6 percent off his Skewb personal best with a 6.51 single, while Spencer Espinoza improved his 3x3x3 Cube mark by 26.8 percent to 17.26 and made his first Megaminx attempt with 4:18.45.

The energy on the floor at CoMO Cubing Winter 2024 was amplified by several athletes attending their very first official WCA competition. Newcomers Konnor Judkins, Jonah Wanklyn, Alex Marchetti, and Andrew Oswald Franz all made their debuts, establishing foundational marks across a combined total of sixteen event entries. Such milestones underscored how an open cubing competition welcomes fresh talent into the sport while giving veteran speed cubing contenders a venue to refine their techniques under tournament pressure.

Across six varied disciplines and eighteen awarded podium spots, the action in Columbia delivered compelling narratives from start to finish. As solvers pack away their timers and look ahead to the remainder of the calendar, the results from CoMO Cubing Winter 2024 provide a clear picture of the rising standard across the community, setting an inspiring tone for every competitor who took part.