Mark John ’27 of Cheektowaga set a personal best when he competed at the Rubik’s Cube New York State Championships this past fall.  He solved it in 8.81 seconds. John competed at the World Cube Association-sanctioned event at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, making the finals of four separate events among a fast field of nearly 70 speedcubers from New York and beyond.  In the traditional 3x3x3 cube competition, John set his personal best average of 8.81 seconds in the first round. In the final round, he finished in 11th place with an average of 9.29 seconds, which included his quickest time of 8.87 (seen in video).  John, who has competed in several other World Cubing Association (thewcaofficial) competitions, was also a finalist in the 4x4x4 cube, 5x5x5 cube and Pyraminx competition at the NYS championships. John is a member of the CHS Rubik’s Cube Club – students interested in solving a Rubik’s Cube for the first time or learning other challenging puzzles can join studen...