Empire State Spring Sprint 2024

Inside the modern halls of the Albany Capital Center, timers clicked rapidly against solving mats as 46 competitors gathered for a full day of puzzle action. Solvers journeyed from across the region and beyond, including international representation from Canada, to converge on Albany, New York, USA for the Empire State Spring Sprint 2024. The single-day schedule on April 28, 2024 packed 14 rounds across five disciplines, creating an energetic hub where every turn counted.

The journey proved worthwhile for Anthony Jiang, who claimed the top step in the traditional Rubik's Cube. Jiang navigated three rounds among 45 competitors, taking victory with an 8.90 winning average in the final round alongside a best single solve of 7.96. The 3x3 results saw intense pressure from Aditya Arunkumar, who secured second place with a 9.00 average, while Ethan Zhuang rounded out the podium in third with an average of 9.67.

Jiang added a second title to his weekend tally in 3x3x3 One-Handed, an event that tested 21 entrants across two rounds. Handling the puzzle with a single hand, Jiang posted a winning average of 14.89 and a round-best single of 13.53. Zhuang took second place on the podium with a mark of 17.48, followed by Benji Shahaf in third place with a 19.02 average.

Ethan Zhuang dominated the remainder of the schedule, collecting three individual tournament wins. In the fast-moving 2x2x2 Cube event, which featured 37 competitors across three rounds, Zhuang took first place with a 1.93 winning average and a 1.72 single. Arunkumar captured the runner-up spot with a 2.05 average, and Jiang completed the podium sweep for the top trio with a 2.81 average.

Zhuang continued his winning run in Pyraminx and Skewb. In Pyraminx, where 38 competitors battled through three rounds, Zhuang secured the gold with a 5.48 winning average and a 3.97 single, edging out Brando Fusco at 5.59 and Shota Fukuoka at 5.62. Zhuang then topped the 28-competitor Skewb bracket with a 3.92 winning average and a 3.70 single, finishing ahead of Ben Colwell at 4.83 and Arunkumar at 4.99.

Away from the top steps, the heart of this WCA competition belonged to personal milestones and major time drops across the floor. Michael Simidchiev slashed his Pyraminx personal best to 5.66, an improvement of 55.1 percent over his previous 12.61 mark, while also lowering his 2x2x2 Cube best by 27.6 percent to 5.19 and his 3x3x3 Cube best to 24.19. Noah Spencer made huge strides by improving his Pyraminx time by 43.9 percent to 9.70 and cutting his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 43 percent to 14.26.

Other competitors took on brand new challenges at this cubing competition. Ryan Reichardt-Holtorf dropped his 2x2x2 Cube best by 43.1 percent to 6.96 while logging first-ever official attempts in Skewb with a 15.44 and Pyraminx with a 14.05. Brennan Humphreys chopped 38.4 percent off his 3x3x3 One-Handed best down to 40.47 and logged inaugural marks of 9.10 in Pyraminx and 11.49 in Skewb. Jack Gasior entered Pyraminx for the first time, posting a 4.73 to claim 8th place, and improved his 3x3x3 Cube mark by 34.1 percent to 9.39.

The depth of participation continued with Aadil Arif, who tackled five events and recorded first-time marks in 2x2x2 Cube at 4.03, 3x3x3 One-Handed at 50.58, and Skewb at 10.14. Joshua Dulak set a first-time Pyraminx result of 9.39 and improved his Skewb best by 35 percent to 8.21 on his way to 7th place in 2x2x2 Cube. Meanwhile, Aiden Schaub made his debut appearance in official speedcubing, completing five events with marks of 6.30 in 2x2x2 Cube, 23.14 in 3x3x3 Cube, and 9.66 in Skewb.

All fifteen podium places across the five events were claimed by United States competitors, highlighting the standard of speed cubing present throughout the Albany Capital Center. From international travelers to local debutants, the Empire State Spring Sprint 2024 delivered high-level consistency at the top and countless individual breakthroughs across every round.