People · United States
Catherine Popescu
Pyraminx · top 18.7% of 129,321 all-time · competing since May 2023 · 2023POPE03
Catherine Popescu has been competing for 3 years. Her best event is the Pyraminx: a personal-best single of 5.82, set at SacCubing XIX 2025, puts her in the top 18.7% of the 129,321 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 4,959th in the United States. Across 21 competitions since May 2023, she has put 331 official solves on the record across eight events. Solve to solve, her 3×3 times vary about 15% around a typical one; 86% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. Her 3×3 best has come down from 34.78 in May 2023 to 14.05, a 60% improvement. Catherine has entered 21 competitions, more competitions than 97% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyraminx | 5.82 | 10.00 | top 18.7% | 4,959 / 28,708 | |
| 3×3 | 14.05 | 18.35 | top 21.1% | 11,392 / 59,724 | |
| 2×2 | 4.56 | 7.68 | top 33.7% | 13,413 / 40,951 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 31.68 | 41.18 | top 50.5% | 6,956 / 15,683 | |
| Skewb | 10.72 | 13.36 | top 59.3% | 10,870 / 18,907 | |
| Megaminx | 2:26.58 | — | early days — 3 solves | 4,482 / 7,841 | |
| 5×5 | 2:20.74 | — | early days — 2 solves | 5,277 / 9,401 | |
| 4×4 | 1:36.03 | — | top 67.9% | 12,074 / 19,072 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 25 Oct 2025First sub-15 3×3: 14.05 at Davis Fall 2025.
- 20 Oct 2024Three personal bests in one day at Davis Fall 2024.
- 18 Feb 2024First sub-20 3×3: 18.13 at Davis Winter 2024.
- 10 Jun 2023First sub-30 3×3: 27.92 at Reno Summer 2023.
- 20 May 2023First competition: SacCubing XIV 2023. A 34.78 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Davis Winter Weeknight 2026 · 26 Feb 2026
- Davis Winter 2026 · 7 Feb 2026
- Davis Fall 2025 · 25 Oct 2025 — 1 personal best set
- SacCubing XXI 2025 · 28 Sep 2025
- Davis Spring 2025 · 6 Apr 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Davis Weeknight February 2025 · 7 Feb 2025 — 1 personal best set
- SacCubing XIX 2025 · 19 Jan 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Davis Fall 2024 · 20 Oct 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- SacCubing XVIII 2024 · 14 Sep 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Davis Summer 2024 · 17 Aug 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Folsom Summer 2024 · 7 Jul 2024 — 1 personal best set
- SacCubing XVII 2024 · 18 May 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Berkeley Spring 2024 · 21 Apr 2024
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 58 - Berkeley 2024 · 17 Mar 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Davis Winter 2024 · 18 Feb 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- SacCubing XVI 2024 · 20 Jan 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Folsom Winter 2023 · 17 Dec 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Davis Fall 2023 · 29 Oct 2023
- SacCubing XV 2023 · 17 Sep 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Reno Summer 2023 · 10 Jun 2023 — 1 personal best set
- SacCubing XIV 2023 · 20 May 2023
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to her.
- Sabir Dhillon — met in 66 rounds, finished ahead once
- Sebastian Stone — met in 65 rounds, finished ahead once
- Kenji Gipson-Nahman — met in 61 rounds, never finished ahead
Next targets
- A sub-5 Pyraminx single — 17,019 people have one; it is 0.82 away.
- A sub-12 3×3 single — 39,535 people have one; it is 2.05 away.
Targets move as she improves.