Reno Fall 2024

A mere eight hundredths of a second separated the top two spots in the premier event at Reno Fall 2024, delivering a dramatic finish in Reno, Nevada, USA. Kenji Gipson-Nahman captured the 3x3x3 Cube title with a winning average of 8.61 seconds, holding off a fierce challenge from runner-up Sebastian Stone, who logged an 8.69 average across the deciding round. Michael Larsen took third place on the podium with an average of 9.18 seconds, while Gipson-Nahman also registered the round's quickest single solve at 7.54 seconds. The razor-thin margin in the showcase discipline capped two days of high-intensity speedcubing in the Silver State across November 16 and November 17.

The 2024 gathering brought together 24 competitors across 15 rounds and nine diverse events, utilizing two different campus venues over the weekend. Action commenced Saturday inside the Ansari Business Building before moving to the Wells Fargo Auditorium on Sunday. The compact field saw deep competition, where small errors shifted standings rapidly. Beyond the flagship Rubik's Cube category, the meet served as a comprehensive speed cubing showcase featuring large NxN puzzles, specialty formats, and complex memory-based events.

Michael Larsen emerged as the weekend's most prolific champion, accumulating four gold-medal finishes across multiple puzzle types. Larsen took first place in the 4x4x4 Cube with a 34.03 average and a best single of 28.49 seconds, finishing ahead of Kenji Gipson-Nahman at 38.90 and Cary Huang at 42.16. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Larsen topped the field with a 2:10.11 average, outperforming Jason Ostdiek at 2:18.81 and Jeremy Benik at 2:27.62. Larsen also secured first in Square-1 with a 13.39 average to edge out Sebastian Stone's 13.56, while adding a 3x3x3 One-Handed victory averaging 15.11 seconds to top Ostdiek's 15.35.

Jason Ostdiek delivered standout performances in both classic and specialized events, earning top honours in the 5x5x5 Cube and 3x3x3 Blindfolded. In the 5x5x5 Cube final, Ostdiek recorded a winning average of 1:08.38 and a best single of 1:03.30. He returned to the table in the blindfolded discipline, taking the victory with a 41.82 single, ahead of Cary Huang at 50.57 and Jeremy Benik at 1:29.39. In the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event, Cary Huang earned the gold medal by successfully resolving 5 out of 5 cubes in 24:05, outscoring Jeremy Benik, who secured 10 out of 15 cubes in 52:53.

Kenji Gipson-Nahman complemented his premier victory with another first-place finish in the 2x2x2 Cube. Gipson-Nahman averaged 2.59 seconds across the final round, having posted the fastest single of the event at 1.54 seconds. Jason Ostdiek claimed second place with a 3.03 average, while Sebastian Stone took third at 3.54 seconds. Across the two rounds of 2x2x2 action, 22 competitors put up rapid times, illustrating the depth of talent throughout the regional roster.

Beyond the top podium steps, significant personal breakthroughs unfolded throughout the brackets at this WCA competition. Balis Peirce cut a massive 21.1 percent off their previous best in the 3x3x3 Cube to finish in 13.78 seconds, while also completing a first ever attempt at Square-1 with a time of 43.59. Gideon Voss recorded an impressive 22.3 percent improvement on the 6x6x6 Cube with a mark of 4:49.40, alongside a 12.5 percent drop to 1:32.42 on the 5x5x5 Cube. Gabriel Sianez took on six disciplines, achieving a best finish of fourth in 3x3x3 One-Handed, an attempt at 6x6x6 Cube in 3:30.35, and a 5.9 percent personal best of 1:24.78 in the 5x5x5 Cube. Breanna LaGere reached sixth place in the 6x6x6 Cube and trimmed 6.7 percent from their 4x4x4 Cube personal best down to 37.37 seconds.

Several competitors embraced brand-new territory or posted sharp drops in their benchmark times. TJ Kelly took on four events, setting a Square-1 personal best of 15.21 seconds by dropping 7.8 percent and lowering their 4x4x4 Cube mark by 6.3 percent to 43.17. Samuel Martin tackled an ambitious schedule of nine events, placing fourth in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind and lowering their 6x6x6 Cube personal best by 6.6 percent to 3:48.01. Jacob Vincent Vicente Mangosing entered seven events, securing fifth place in 5x5x5 Cube with a new personal best of 1:26.80, a 4.9 percent improvement. Ezra Remijio attended their first WCA competition, recording initial marks of 24.99 in the 3x3x3 Cube, 1:19.73 in the 4x4x4 Cube, and 9.92 in the 2x2x2 Cube.

With 27 total podium positions claimed by United States competitors across nine events, the official 3x3 results and category summaries reflected strong competition from start to finish. Reno Fall 2024 provided a stage for established titleholders to defend their positions alongside emerging competitors measuring their progress against the clock. As the regional calendar shifts toward the upcoming season, the close finishes and broad personal achievements in Reno set a high competitive standard for the circuit.