Houston Back to School 2025

A total of 154 competitors gathered at the Norris Conference Center - CityCentre for Houston Back to School 2025, setting up a packed schedule of speedcubing action. Staged on August 9, 2025, the one-day WCA competition delivered 12 rounds across six puzzles. The main event came down to the final turns of the 3x3x3 Cube, where Dylan Miller locked in a winning average of 6.15 seconds over three rigorous rounds. Miller secured the title by holding off Siddharth Reddy, who finished second with an average of 7.12, and Derek Herrera of the Philippines, who took third with a 7.15 average.

The 3x3 results capped a dominant showing by Miller throughout the day in Houston, Texas, USA. Along with the top average, Miller also posted the single fastest 3x3x3 solve of the tournament at 5.46 seconds. The field featured 151 solvers tackling the traditional Rubik's Cube, requiring sharp consistency from start to finish. Dylan Miller managed the pressure across every round, maintaining an elite pace that separated him from a stacked chasing pack in the afternoon final.

The 2x2x2 Cube final provided its own burst of high-speed drama across two rounds of play. Siddharth Reddy earned the top step of the podium with a lightning-fast winning average of 1.42 seconds, which was anchored by the tournament best single solve of 1.03 seconds. Reddy outpaced Dylan Miller, who claimed second place with an average of 2.79, while Jayden Nguyen captured third place with an average of 2.99 seconds in the 122-competitor field.

Dylan Miller expanded his medal count across the mid-sized puzzles at Houston Back to School 2025. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Miller took first place with a 28.31 winning average and a best single of 25.38, finishing ahead of Justin Zhou with 29.79 and Derek Herrera with 32.68. Miller then took gold in the 5x5x5 Cube with an average of 1:01.31 and a single of 56.68, edging out Nicholas Pena at 1:02.02 and Justin Zhou at 1:02.53 in an exceptionally close finish.

Away from the top of the podium, several participants made substantial personal strides across the six events. Richard Ye entered six events, securing 21st place in the 6x6x6 Cube with a first attempt time of 4:08.62, while lowering their Megaminx personal best by 46.7 percent to 2:19.38 and their 3x3x3 mark by 16.2 percent to 12.25 seconds. Luca Joel Alvarado Duarte completed four events, notching a first attempt of 2:22.68 on the 5x5x5 Cube and dropping their 4x4x4 Cube personal best by 41.7 percent down to 1:05.37.

Other competitors delivered impressive breakthroughs during the cubing competition. Henry El-Taha improved their 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 40.5 percent to 3.27 seconds while logging a first attempt of 1:05.42 on the 4x4x4 Cube. Isabel Cervantes took on five events, improving their 3x3x3 mark by 34.2 percent to 20.79 seconds and posting a first Megaminx result of 2:03.31. Aiza Memon reduced their 3x3x3 record by 28.5 percent to 10.14 seconds, Gianna Miller improved their 3x3x3 best by 26.6 percent to 12.61 seconds, Santiago Contreras posted an 18th place finish in the 6x6x6 Cube, and Michael Batista took on six events with a best finish of 27th.

Non-traditional geometry also played a central role at Houston Back to School 2025, as Dylan Miller captured a fourth victory in the twelve-sided Megaminx event. Miller posted a winning average of 40.64 seconds and a single of 34.79 seconds across two rounds. Eli Maslowski finished as runner-up with an average of 52.93 seconds, while Justin Zhou took third place with a time of 1:03.62 among 52 entrants.

Big cube mastery highlighted the single-round 6x6x6 Cube event, where Justin Zhou secured first place with an impressive winning average of 1:49.32 and a single of 1:44.90. Nicholas Pena took second place with a mark of 1:56.49, and Rune Thomas Coulbourne took third in 2:10.25. The day highlighted the strength of regional speed cubing, with competitors from the USA taking 16 podium places alongside two for the Philippines as the 2025 season progressed.