FSUbers 4.5 2023

Inside Florida State University, tables stood lined with timers and stopwatches as twenty-one dedicated solvers assembled for a weekend of intense focus. The venue in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, hosted nine challenging events spanning June 10 to June 11, setting an exacting stage across twelve total rounds. From the silent concentration of blindfold attempts to the rapid turns of side events, the atmosphere captured the essence of high-level speedcubing where every fraction of a second mattered.

Unlike the standard five-solve format that permits dropping the worst result, mean-of-three events offer no safety net. In formats like 6x6x6 Cube, 7x7x7 Cube, and 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, a single mistake, lockup, or calculation slip immediately spoils the entire aggregate. Every turn across all three attempts must remain precise and calculated, placing immense pressure on competitors to balance blistering pace with absolute consistency.

Vishwa Sankar mastered this unforgiving demand, capturing victories across multiple disciplines at FSUbers 4.5 2023. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Sankar posted a commanding winning average of 1:40.48 alongside a best single of 1:27.66 to finish ahead of Sean Hartman with 1:43.26 and Heewon Seo with 1:48.27. Sankar repeated the triumph on the 7x7x7 Cube, recording a winning average of 2:37.84 and a single of 2:25.96 to top Tommy Cherry and Hartman in a tightly contested podium race.

The precision continued into 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, where competitors spend an hour analyzing paths on the classic Rubik's Cube mechanism to find the shortest possible solution. Sankar claimed gold once again with a disciplined winning average of 32.33 turns, while Hartman secured second place with 33.00 and Daniel Porter finished third with 35.33. Sankar also took top honors in Clock, recording an average of 5.37 and a best single of 4.10, while Heewon Seo dominated Megaminx with a winning average of 33.29.

Beyond the podiums, the cubing competition served as a breakthrough stage for several competitors pushing personal limits. Carter Pike delivered remarkable improvements across seven events, dropping his 3x3x3 Blindfolded mark to 5:52.43 for a 30 percent improvement, trimming his 6x6x6 Cube time by 27.5 percent down to 3:34.26, and tackling 3x3x3 Fewest Moves for the first time with 37 moves. Leyton Beardslee shaved 20.5 percent off his 7x7x7 Cube personal best to hit 3:43.86 while also recording a new 6x6x6 Cube personal best of 2:10.59. Trenton Cuzick logged a 9.6 percent improvement on Megaminx with 1:23.00 and completed his first ever 3x3x3 Blindfolded attempt at 3:50.11, while Dawson Wellman registered his first official attempts in Clock, Fewest Moves, and 6x6x6 Cube with a time of 3:21.27.

Several solvers embraced the weekend as their very first WCA competition experience. Alexander Malinin tackled five events, putting up an opening 10.56 single in Clock, a 51 in Fewest Moves, and a 1:56.86 in Megaminx. William Collin Nester completed his initial official attempts across four events, including 5:36.66 in 3x3x3 Blindfolded and 4:46.97 in 7x7x7 Cube. Riyan Sangani took on five events, achieving a fourth-place finish in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind and establishing times of 51.47 in Clock and 4:14.39 in Megaminx. Álex Santiago also made an impressive debut across five events, marking his first official attempts with 23.02 in Clock and 5:53.94 in Megaminx.

The blindfolded categories brought high stakes of their own, where incomplete solves lead directly to a DNF result. Tommy Cherry delivered spectacular memory runs, winning 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a best single of 14.69 seconds, taking 4x4x4 Blindfolded in 1:42.73, and solving 33 out of 37 cubes in 59:21 to claim the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind crown. Sean Hartman earned the 5x5x5 Blindfolded title with a single of 16:21.00 while also taking runner-up spots in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, 4x4x4 Blindfolded, and Multi-Blind.

Across two intense days of speed cubing in 2023, the event showcased how unforgiving big cubes and blindfolded disciplines can be when margins are razor-thin. Competitors reviewing the final 3x3 results and mean-of-three scorecards departed Tallahassee having pushed through the pressure of high-stakes solves. The gathering closed another memorable chapter for the local community as solvers look forward to carrying their hard-earned progress into the next tournament cycle.