WVU Parkersburg students earn national recognition in Spring 2026 National Cyber League competition

Parkersburg, W.Va. (May 22, 2026) — WVU Parkersburg students earned national recognition through their performance in the Spring 2026 National Cyber League competition, demonstrating strong cybersecurity skills against thousands of competitors nationwide.

Seventeen WVU Parkersburg students competed in both the individual and team portions of the Spring 2026 National Cyber League season. In the individual competition, more than 7,000 students from colleges, universities and high schools across the country participated. Three WVU Parkersburg students placed in the top 20% nationally, with one student finishing 198th overall.

In the team competition, five WVU Parkersburg teams competed against more than 3,600 teams nationwide, with all five teams placing in the top 15% nationally. Two WVU Parkersburg teams earned top-100 finishes, placing 29th and 95th overall.

The National Cyber League is a cybersecurity competition that provides students with hands-on experience solving real-world cybersecurity challenges. Competition categories include digital forensics, password cracking, network traffic analysis, web application exploitation, cryptography and vulnerability identification.

“We are thrilled with how well our students performed this season,” said Doug Rhodes, coach and faculty member at WVU Parkersburg. “The students put in a tremendous amount of work throughout the semester, and their results reflect that effort. I’m excited to see how they continue to grow and compete in the future.”

NCL’s Cyber Power Rankings are based on top team performance, top individual student performance and aggregate student performance from each institution. Based on Spring 2026 competition results, WVU Parkersburg ranked 37th nationally in the Cyber Power Rankings and 16th in the Eastern Division, the highest ranking among West Virginia colleges and universities.

Each year, more than 10,000 students from more than 500 colleges and universities and 100 high schools across the United States participate in National Cyber League competitions, helping students develop and demonstrate practical cybersecurity skills in a competitive environment.

Participation in competitions such as the National Cyber League supports WVU Parkersburg’s commitment to providing career-focused, hands-on learning experiences that prepare students for careers in the growing cybersecurity field.

For more information about WVU Parkersburg academic programs, visit wvup.edu.