South Deerfield Clock Fest 2024

A mere fourteen hundredths of a second stood between glory and second place in the 3x3x3 Cube final at South Deerfield Clock Fest 2024. Daniel Gutierrez claimed the premier title with an average of 7.92 seconds, narrowly edging out runner-up Charles Amarello at 8.06 seconds, while Levi Gibson secured third place at 8.20 seconds. The tight margins across the entire podium showed how fiercely contested the main discipline was among the 32 entrants. Gutierrez also produced a best single of 6.11 seconds to anchor his winning run.

The single-day event held on May 25, 2024 at Deerfield Elementary School brought together 37 competitors across six official events. Located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, USA, the gathering featured 14 rounds of intense action. It proved to be a classic cubing competition where quick turns and steady nerves determined podium placements across every discipline, from mechanical turners to large twisty puzzles.

The battle on the traditional Rubik's Cube was not the only razor-thin contest of the meeting. The namesake Clock event provided another dramatic showdown over three full rounds involving 28 competitors. Quinn Maloney took top honours with an average of 4.40 seconds and a best single of 3.76 seconds. Maloney held off Brendan Lee, who finished second with a 4.65-second average, and third-placed Aaron Jake Wong, whose 4.68-second average trailed second by only three hundredths of a second.

Maloney added a second victory in the 2x2x2 Cube event, topping a field of 35 competitors across two rounds. Recording a winning average of 1.59 seconds and a best single of 1.11 seconds, Maloney led the podium ahead of Jacob Schwartz in second at 2.34 seconds and Cameron Soulagnet in third at 2.51 seconds. Maloney demonstrated remarkable consistency on the smaller puzzle, delivering an authoritative standard throughout the rounds in South Deerfield.

Beyond the podium battles, South Deerfield Clock Fest 2024 showcased remarkable personal milestones from competitors making massive strides. Christopher Landgrebe took on five events, improving his Square-1 personal best to 13.62 seconds, which was 36.4 percent faster than his previous mark, and lowering his Clock best to 5.47 seconds, a 30.8 percent improvement, while achieving a ninth-place finish in Clock. Didier Fan recorded a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 27.54 seconds, slashing 34.9 percent off his previous time, alongside a 2x2x2 Cube best of 8.89 seconds and a first ever official Clock attempt of 15.89 seconds. Max Giuliano achieved a 3x3x3 Cube best of 35.08 seconds, an improvement of 22.4 percent, while registering first attempts in Clock at 21.53 seconds and 2x2x2 Cube at 9.96 seconds.

The depth of progress continued across the venue as competitors expanded into new formats. Akshara Sudhakar registered a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 31.78 seconds, which was 20.3 percent faster than before. Samuel Blair dropped his Clock personal best to 9.42 seconds, a 17.1 percent improvement across three contested disciplines. Sufyaan Syed took on three events, posting a personal best of 12.15 seconds in the 3x3x3 Cube, finishing eighth in 2x2x2 Cube, and completing a first Clock attempt in 6.11 seconds. First-time WCA competition entrants also logged their opening marks, with Gabriel Pessoa posting a 22.82-second result in the 3x3x3 Cube across three events, and Jack Miller completing a first 3x3x3 attempt of 28.08 seconds alongside an 8.13-second effort in 2x2x2.

Big cube specialists also found success on the tables. Cameron Soulagnet took the 5x5x5 Cube title against 18 other entrants over two rounds, putting together a winning average of 54.49 seconds and a best single of 50.46 seconds. Jeffrey Li took second place with an average of 56.58 seconds, followed by Daniel Gutierrez in third at 1:00.95. Li returned the favour in the 7x7x7 Cube final, capturing first place with an average of 2:11.27 and a best single of 2:04.06, with Soulagnet taking second at 2:24.59 and Brendan Lee finishing third at 3:45.90.

The Square-1 competition concluded with a standout display from Elijah Rain Phelps. Phelps earned victory with an average of 7.50 seconds and a single of 6.91 seconds over three rounds of play. Maloney secured the second step on the podium with an average of 11.64 seconds, while Aaron Jake Wong earned third place with a 12.18-second mark. The diverse lineup of events highlighted the vast range of speed cubing skills required across different mechanisms.

As the day drew to a close, the final 3x3 results and podium totals reflected an entirely domestic sweep, with competitors from the USA collecting all 18 available podium spots. South Deerfield Clock Fest 2024 wrapped up as a high-intensity showcase of modern speedcubing, where tiny time differentials defined the standings and personal improvements abounded across the floor.