HCU Cyber Skyline Team Ranks in Top 4% Nationally in 2025 NCL Competition

Houston, Texas, Dec. 3, 2025 - Houston Christian University (HCU) is proud to announce that its Cyber Skyline Team achieved an outstanding national ranking in the 2025 National Cyber League (NCL) Competition, placing 160th out of 4,214 teams, positioning the Huskies in the top 4 percent of competitors.

The NCL's mission is to provide high school and college students an online, safe platform of real-world cybersecurity challenges to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for successful careers in the cybersecurity field.

Participating team members included juniors, Oswaldo Cardona, Justin Denison, Grant Keiffer and Luke Packard, and seniors, Xiomara Hernandez, Jair Maldonado and Peter Schelingerhout.

The competition immerses students in hands-on cybersecurity challenges reflective of today's digital threats, including identifying hackers from forensic data, pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites, recovering from ransomware attacks, and more.

"Students gained a better understanding of cybersecurity attacks and proper ways to defend against said attacks. Additional insight into how attackers think and act was another great skill gained from this competition, allowing these students to apply their Christian ethics and morals to a highly volatile digital world," said Dr. Katie Evans, Dean of the College of Science & Engineering.

At the close of the competition, participants received a Scouting Report, to help identify possible careers in cybersecurity, track skills for career readiness and assist in the hiring process.

"We are very proud of the accomplishments of our HCU Huskies cyber team. Their hard work and continued pursuit for cybersecurity education is apparent in their accomplishment within the NCL Fall competition. We look forward to seeing these students continue to thrive and use the tools and education they are learning here at HCU to the fullest," said Dr. Stephen Lyford, HCU Assistant Professor of Computer Science.

For more information on the 2025 NCL competition, visit nationalcyberleague.org.

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Houston Christian University

For more than 60 years, Houston Christian University has equipped students to lead, collaborate and embody a deep sense of spiritual purpose. The University offers a wide range of majors, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs, as well as NCAA Division I athletics in the Southland Conference. Located in the heart of one of the nation's largest metropolitan centers, HCU's culture of excellence molds the next generation of educated disciples to be pillars in their communities, preparing them to think critically and biblically as they impact the world.