People · United States
Nicholas Pena
3×3 · top 1.2% of 284,439 all-time · competing since May 2017 · 2017PENA07
Nicholas Pena has been competing for 9 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 6.86, set at Houston Back to School 2025, puts him in the top 1.2% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 732nd in the United States. Until November 2010, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 11 competitions since May 2017, he has put 494 official solves on the record across ten events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 87% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 11.79 in May 2017 to 6.86, a 42% improvement. Nicholas has entered eleven competitions, more competitions than 93% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 6.86 | 8.87 | top 1.2% | 732 / 59,724 | |
| 4×4 | 27.70 | 32.04 | top 1.7% | 279 / 19,072 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 12.18 | 14.44 | top 3.2% | 497 / 15,683 | |
| 5×5 | 55.12 | 1:00.45 | top 3.4% | 284 / 9,401 | |
| 7×7 | 2:38.14 | 2:53.01 | top 5.2% | 136 / 3,184 | |
| 6×6 | 1:47.50 | 1:53.08 | top 6.3% | 214 / 4,196 | |
| 2×2 | 2.63 | 3.41 | top 10.2% | 4,015 / 40,951 | |
| Megaminx | 1:32.52 | 1:34.70 | top 29.8% | 2,091 / 7,841 | |
| Skewb | 9.23 | 13.48 | top 50.0% | 8,941 / 18,907 | |
| Pyraminx | 11.91 | 17.50 | top 66.6% | 19,703 / 28,708 |
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
- 9 Aug 2025Six personal bests in one day at Houston Back to School 2025.
- 7 Jun 2025Five personal bests in one day at Corpus Christi Summer 2025.
- 22 Nov 2024Nine personal bests in one day at Texas Championship 2024.
- 3 Nov 2018Three personal bests in one day at South Texas Open 2018.
- 16 Jun 2018Four personal bests in one day at Turning in Texas 2018.
- 3 Feb 2018Five personal bests in one day at Howdy Partner 2018.
Competitions
- Houston Back to School 2025 · 9 Aug 2025 — 6 personal bests set
- Corpus Christi Summer 2025 · 7 Jun 2025 — 5 personal bests set
- Space City Winter TX 2025 · 4 Jan 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Texas Championship 2024 · 22 Nov 2024 — 9 personal bests set
- South Texas Open 2018 · 3 Nov 2018 — 3 personal bests set
- Turning in Texas 2018 · 16 Jun 2018 — 4 personal bests set
- Howdy Partner 2018 · 3 Feb 2018 — 5 personal bests set
- Longhorn Cube Day 2017 · 18 Nov 2017 — 3 personal bests set
- Yeehaw 2017 · 7 Oct 2017 — 3 personal bests set
- Southern Championships 2017 · 15 Jul 2017 — 6 personal bests set
- South Texas Open 2017 · 20 May 2017 — 1 personal best set
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 his.
- Zachary White — met in 47 rounds, finished ahead 10 times
- Marcus Kamen — met in 44 rounds, finished ahead 27 times
- Matt Lee — met in 43 rounds, finished ahead 30 times
Next targets
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 0.86 away.
- A sub-25 4×4 single — 588 people have one; it is 2.70 away.
Targets move as he improves.