It’s said that it took architect Erno Rubik a month to solve his own puzzle, when he created that now-famous three-by-three cube.
He hadn’t meant it to be a toy, but a teaching tool to explain three-dimensional geography. Now, the 40-something Rubik’s Cube is not just a toy, or a teaching tool. It’s also the centre of attention when it comes to coding competitions. And this week, Chilliwack middle school gathered up legions of local students from 11 different schools, including home schoolers, for the first annual Chilliwack School District Rubik’s Rumble.
The event went on for three hours in the school’s gym on Wednesday, after school. Teams and individuals were cheered on by peers, teachers and parents. Volunteer cube scramblers and timing assistants sat at several stations, as the contestants worked their way through heats.
They began with the two-by-two competition, then moved to the three-by-three and even four-by-four. After that, they held a three-by-three one-handed event, and a three-by-three team relay. As the competition heated up, contestants sat to the side and focused in on their personal cubes, twisting and turning the colourful blocks with quick and thoughtful movements.
Keep in mind, these kids are solving the cubes in mere seconds, while a three-by-three cube can be rearranged in 43 quintillion different ways.
This isn’t the only place kids can compete with cubes. GWG Grade 8 student Emily Peters began in 2015, she says, and has even competed in the US Nationals.
“The community is amazing,” she says of those who compete at a high level, but the greatest thrill comes from solving the puzzles themselves.
“It’s not about the competition, it’s about doing it better each time. Challenging yourself,” she says.
And challenge they did. But it was a Grade 7 student from AD Rundle who rose to the top of the podium for most of the event.
The results for the first annual Chilliwack District-Wide Rubik’s Rumble for the two-by-two event were Xander Valenzuela, a Grade 9 home school student, in first place with a time of 3.83 seconds. Miguel Rillera and Leif Guiaya took second and third with 5.018 and 5.61 seconds. Both are Grade 7 students from AD Rundle middle.
Rillera took first place in the three-by-three event, taking 14.335 seconds to complete the cube. Emily Peters took second with 18.521 seconds and Guiaya took third with 25.03 seconds.
Rillera also took first place in the four-by-event, solving in the top time of 1:02.243. Oskar Stumpf, a Grade 6 student from Little Mountain elementary took second place (2:04.39) and Layne Young, a Grade 8 student from CMS took third (2:52.13).
And again, Rillera took home first in the one-handed event, solving a three-by-three cube in 47.651 seconds. Vaughn Honigman, a Grade 7 student from Unity Christian, earned second place (1:02.84) and Guiaya earned third place (1:09.608).
Finally, teams gathered for a three-by-three relay even.
Chilliwack Middle School took first and second place, with the home school association placing third.
The top team consisted of Layne Young, Braeden Ross, Pawan Singh Daliaho and Isabel Huang, and they completed the task with a time of 6:02.83. The second place team included Carter Moore, Levi Roorda, Ethan Putz, Mayu Stoner and Zavian Carriere, with a time of 6:32.56.
The third place team included Romeo Dietsch, Xander Valenzuela, Nathan Grills, and Julin Giesbrecht, and they had a time of 8:02.534.
Chilliwack middle school’s teacher librarian, Lorisse Humphries, said they are planning on making the tournament an annual tradition.
@CHWKcommunity
jpeters@theprogress.com
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