Temecula Valley Fall 2024

One hundred and forty-one competitors arrived at The Awakening Event Center in Murrieta, California, USA on October 26, 2024, to test their resolve across twelve total rounds. When the schedule turns to mean-of-3 formats like the 7x7x7 Cube, the psychological landscape shifts entirely. Unlike average-of-five rounds that discard the best and worst attempts, a three-solve format offers no statistical safety net. Every slip of the fingers, momentary lockup, or missed pattern recognition directly penalizes the final result, turning endurance into an exercise in pure precision.

The 7x7x7 Cube final perfectly demonstrated that unforgiving reality across thirty-one competitors. Max Park captured the title with a commanding winning average of 1:49.28, backed by a best single of 1:43.16. Behind him, Kate Grahame secured second place with an average of 2:13.09, while Brendyn Dunagan claimed the final podium step in 2:15.57. Across three massive solves, maintaining consistent pacing without accumulating time penalties defined the entire podium race, separating the medalists by just seconds over thousands of combined piece turns.

Beyond the grueling big-cube events, Park continued his relentless momentum across the five-event roster. In the premier 3x3x3 Cube, which drew 140 competitors through three rounds of speedcubing action, Park topped the standings with a winning average of 6.24 and a single of 5.46. Dunagan followed in second place with a 6.94 average, while India representative Sree Dacharla earned third place with a mark of 7.77. The classic Rubik's Cube final capped a fast-paced day of top-tier results in the region.

The 4x4x4 Cube contest saw another dominant display from Park, who delivered a winning average of 20.80 alongside a single of 16.40. Dunagan took the silver medal with a 26.13 average, followed by Dan Tran in third at 30.33. In the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, Park picked up his fourth title of the day, recording an average of 9.06 and an 8.83 single. Dunagan claimed second place at 10.81, while Dylan Govic rounded out the top three with an average of 12.12.

The rapid-fire 2x2x2 Cube event brought a shakeup to the top of the leaderboard, featuring 118 competitors and three full rounds. Brendyn Dunagan claimed the championship with an exceptional winning average of 1.50, driven by a tournament-best single of 1.11. Kate Grahame took second place with a 2.09 average, while Dan Tran secured third place with 2.24. Dunagan's victory broke Park's sweep and highlighted the explosive, fraction-of-a-second execution required in short-puzzle speed cubing formats.

Away from the podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across their individual schedules. Anthony Hernandez took on four events, making his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed with a time of 1:03.57 and his first 4x4x4 Cube attempt at 2:11.79, while dropping his 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 20.40, an improvement of 48.1 percent. Mason Farfan cut his 2x2x2 Cube personal best down to 9.63, a 47.4 percent drop, and improved his one-handed mark to 1:03.09. Roger Molina posted a 42.7 percent personal best drop in the 2x2x2 Cube with a 5.21 and logged a first 3x3x3 Cube attempt of 36.25.

The personal breakthroughs continued across the arena. Adlan Darpi registered a 2.88 personal best in the 2x2x2 Cube, an improvement of 41.9 percent, alongside a first 4x4x4 Cube solve of 1:17.09. Liliya Farrokh shaved 39.4 percent off her 2x2x2 Cube best with a 5.33 and tackled her first 4x4x4 Cube attempt in 1:35.52. Joopy Salem entered the 7x7x7 Cube for the first time with a 6:50.60 effort while cutting his 2x2x2 Cube best by 38.3 percent down to 2.19. James Setterlund dropped his 3x3x3 One-Handed best by 34 percent to 29.27, and Elliott Roach achieved a 1:05.70 in the same event, improving by 15.6 percent while logging a first 2x2x2 Cube attempt of 6.36.

Overall, the cubing competition distributed fifteen podium places across two nations, with competitors from the United States earning fourteen and India securing one. From the relentless precision required in the mean-of-3 big-cube solves to the razor-thin margins of the sprint events, Temecula Valley Fall 2024 delivered an exceptional showcase of technical skill and competitive depth across every round.