UCSD Weeknights IV 2025

Thirteen competitors gathered on February 11, 2025, taking their seats at UC San Diego for an evening of focused speedcubing. The university setting offered an intense, distraction-free environment inside the competition hall, where players faced a challenging slate of big cubes and twisty puzzles. Across four total rounds and three demanding events, the venue buzzed with rapid turns as participants tested their solving endurance in San Diego, California, USA.

The 6x6x6 Cube served as one of the evening's centerpiece events, featuring 12 competitors determined to conquer the multi-layered puzzle. Emily Nguyen delivered a dominant performance to take the title, finishing with a winning average of 1:59.24 and logging the single fastest solve of the event at 1:48.20. Shane Grogan secured the runner-up position on the podium with an average of 2:05.36, while Alex Lehman completed the top three with an average of 2:12.92.

In the 7x7x7 Cube, which saw 11 competitors battle through two rounds of grueling solves, Shane Grogan claimed first place overall. Grogan posted a winning average of 3:11.49 along with a field-leading single of 2:50.96. Graham Siggins captured the second spot on the podium with a 3:25.34 mark, followed closely by Emily Nguyen in third place at 3:27.39, highlighting the high-level standard of big cube execution at this WCA competition.

The 12-sided Megaminx brought a different kind of spatial challenge to the tables, drawing 12 entrants in a single high-stakes round. Timothy Zhang (张学义) navigated the complex dodecahedron flawlessly to take the victory, posting a top single solve of 46.41 and a winning average of 53.61. Avery Cochran claimed second place with a solid 56.02 average, while Emily Nguyen reached her third podium of the meet by finishing third in 1:03.97.

Beyond the top podium steps, the evening featured several impressive personal breakthroughs that demonstrated significant individual progress. Leading the way in sheer time improvement was Kavin Tangtartharakul, who entered two events and dropped his 6x6x6 Cube personal best single down to 2:33.39, an improvement of 9 percent over his previous best of 2:48.64, while also cutting 7.9 percent off his 7x7x7 Cube best to reach 4:07.04 and finishing 7th in the 6x6x6. Jason Chang (章維祐) took on three events, earning a best finish of 4th in the 7x7x7 Cube and trimming 8.2 percent off his Megaminx personal best to clock 1:12.29. Dominic Shoji competed in three events and achieved a 6 percent personal best improvement in Megaminx with a 1:26.53, finishing 10th in the event.

Other competitors also made their mark across the roster. Sherry Tao (陶心仪) tackled two events, earning a 12th-place finish in Megaminx while lowering her personal best solve to 3:26.49, which was 3.2 percent faster than before. Muhtasim Al-Farabi entered three events, achieving a best finish of 9th in Megaminx and recording a 6x6x6 Cube personal best single of 2:46.05. Dylan Govic contested three separate events, highlighted by a strong 5th-place finish in Megaminx. Manning Karahashi (唐橋康成) rounded out an active evening across three events, securing a best finish of 9th place in the 6x6x6 Cube.

The clean sweep of all nine podium positions by competitors representing the United States reflected the sharp level of domestic speed cubing talent present in San Diego. While standard 3x3 results and classic Rubik's Cube categories often command the main headlines, the evening demonstrated how thrilling the heavier, more complex twisty puzzles can be in a live tournament atmosphere.

The single-day meet proved that dedicated evening gatherings at university venues provide the perfect stage for competitive growth. As UCSD Weeknights IV 2025 concluded, competitors wrapped up their puzzles and looked ahead to the next season of tournament play across the region.