Midwest Area Delegates

Jake lives in Peoria, Illinois.  He is studying music at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. Outside of cubing, Jake plays baseball, disc golf, and is also involved in community theater.      

Kit has been cubing since 2008 and delegating since 2013. Kit served as the WCA Senior Delegate for US and Canada from 2017 to 2021 as well. He started delegating competitions in Michigan, then Oregon, and recently moved back to the Midwest in Illinois. His favorite event is 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, where he has won national championship podiums in 2015 and 2018. Outside of cubing, Kit enjoys disc golfing like many of the other delegates listed here, and is involved in statistics education as an instructor and researcher.

Lauren grew up in Michigan, moved to Portland, OR after college, and returned back to the Midwest (Illinois) in 2022. She started cubing in 2013 when she met Delegate Kit Clement at the University of Michigan and asked him about his WCA profile. Her first competition was at Hillsdale College where she not only was excited to compete but also began volunteering at the competition as a runner and judge. Kit and Lauren attended many competitions together and eventually planned a Rubik's Cube themed wedding to celebrate their love of each other and cubing. Lauren continued to help out at every competition she attended, including National and World Championships.  Outside of competitions, Lauren joined the WCA Communication Team in 2017 and was the leader of the team from 2018 to 2022. She was appointed to be a Delegate in 2019 and continues to enjoy representing the cubing community any way she can!

Dan grew up in Ohio and got his first Rubik's Cube in 1981 while in middle school. He eventually averaged 75 seconds after reading "The Simple Solution to the Rubik's Cube". For the next 35+ years he solved it casually with terrible finger tricks and look ahead. In 1988, however, he wrote a computer program that could scramble and solve the 3x3x3 Cube then also wrote a program to model the 5x5x5 cube which didn't even exist then -- he was able to solve that 5x5x5 cube virtually with his own slow method. In 2018, in a mid-life crisis, he wondered if he could break his old high school record of 54 seconds. After learning Jeffrey Varasano's Corners First method then CFOP, Dan signed up for a local competition he saw online. He asked the delegate at the competition what it would take for him to be a delegate, then was given that chance in 2022 after competitions came back after COVID. Dan's passion in cubing is talking to young people and seeing the same enthusiasm in their eyes for solving the cube as he had as a kid!

Alison started cubing in 2015, first competed in 2017, and was promoted to Delegate in 2022. Her hobbies include listening to music, reading, playing video games, and of course, cubing.

This is Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni but most people call him "Javi." He has been speed cubing since 2011 and delegating since 2022. He is a mechanical engineer based out of the Louisville, KY area. Feel free to give him a holler if you need anything!

Lisa has been involved in the cubing community in Minnesota since her son Carter (Wisconsin delegate) started competing in 2015. After attending many competitions with Carter, and organizing or helping staff at most of them, Lisa finally learned to solve the cube in 2017, and now has competed in over 50 competitions herself.  She is one of the founding members of the Midwest Cubing Association and has organized several competitions in Minnesota. Lisa is passionate about supporting and growing the community in Minnesota and the surrounding areas of the midwest region.  She is semi-retired and enjoying spending some of her spare time giving back to the community that has been such a large part of her family for many years. Outside of working part-time and supporting the local cubing community, Lisa enjoys golf and traveling , and plans to spend part of the cold Minnesota winter months in some warm places!

Shain has been a very casual solver since 2010, but began speedcubing September 2019. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he attended as many competitions as he could. Shain organized his first competition in August 2022 and dove headfirst into supporting the community in any way he could. He is a member of the WCA's Disciplinary Committee, and is thrilled to now be a part of the Midwest delegate team. His favorite events are Square-1, 3x3, and 6x6. Outside of cubing, Shain repairs medical equipment, is an actor, is a sound/projections designer for the stage, and is a year-round hockey goalie.

Walker grew up in Minnesota and started cubing casually in 2008 after being intrigued by seeing a Rubik's Cube at a local store. A few years later, Youtube videos of World Records and Tutorials peaked his interest and then decided to join his first competition in Fall of 2011. Over the years, Walker learned how welcoming and great the Cubing Community is and kept becoming more and more involved from Organizing to becoming a WCA Delegate in 2016. Walker also has served for the WCA Ethics Committee as a Leader and is currently a Board of Director for CubingUSA. Walker's favorite WCA events are 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, 7x7, and Clock with his proudest accomplishment being his 24.00 Fewest Moves World Record Average. Outside of Cubing, Walker works as a UPS Package Supervisor and in his free time enjoys getting outside and playing Disc Golf whenever he can!

Katelyn has been speed solving since 2012 and started competing in 2016. She hails from Springfield, Mo and works as a videographer & photographer at a music store. She hopes to also provide support for the North Arkansas area as well.   

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Braden is a speedcuber originally from Findlay Ohio, where he co-organized four competitions in 2018 and 2019. After a long break from competitions in 2020 and 2021, Braden sought to become more involved in the WCA and cubing community as a staff member and representative. Currently, Braden is the president of The Rubik's Cube Club at Ohio State, and has held multiple competitions on campus. Braden is also a member of the WCA Archive Team, where he researches WCA and speedcubing history including world records and historic competitions. While he considers himself to be an all-rounder, Braden's main event is not actually an official WCA event (yet!); Braden's favorite event is Mirror Blocks, where he holds the record at 7.96 seconds.

Zach has been cubing since 2009 and attended his first official competition in 2014. Since then he has competed in over 100 competitions in more than 20 states. Zach became a delegate in early 2017 and has helped delegate more than 50 competitions. Zach does the IT Work for a local school district in Ohio.   

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Carter is a cuber from South Dakota currently attending college in Florida! His main event has been 4x4 almost since he started cubing in 2016. Please reach out to Carter if you want to organize a competition in the South Dakota area during winter break or in the summer!​

Carter has been attending WCA competitions in 2015, and became a delegate in 2022.  He is an impressive all-around cuber and also broke the Skewb world record average in December of 2021. In addition to being a delegate, Carter also works as a member of both the WCA Regulations Committee and WCA Disciplinary Committee. Although his primary home is in Minnesota, he is currently attending college at UW Madison. Carter is looking forward to helping grow the Midwest Cubing Community by bringing competitions to more areas that have not had them before. 

Josh is from Madison and started cubing in 2009.  He was the U.S. National Champion in Clock two years in a row (2016 and 2017).   He also holds the current World Record for the most competitions and most completed solves in 1 year!  Josh has delegated over 40 competitions.

Simon started attending competitions in 2016. Since then he has attended over 100, getting a world record in Pyraminx in the process. In 2022 he joined the WCA Results Team, and became a delegate in 2023. Outside of cubing he is a mathematics student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Zeke is from the Milwaukee area and has been cubing since 2014. He has been attending WCA competitions since 2015 and has been regularly organizing competitions in Wisconsin since lockdown ended. He is currently a member of the WCA Competition Announcement Team and Advisory Council. He is primarily an all-rounder but his favorite event is Clock. Zeke is excited to help grow the Midwest cubing community in the coming years!