MECC’s “Capture the Flag” (CTF) team has advanced to the final round of Radford University’s annual “RU Secure” national CTF competition.

MECC’s “Capture the Flag” (CTF) team has advanced to the final round of Radford University’s annual “RU Secure” national CTF competition. The “redFoxes” achieved the highest score of any college or high school in the Southwest Virginia category, qualifying them for the competition’s final round per contest rules. Overall, the team finished 18th out of 185 competing teams, and they also finished ahead of all but one VCCS college. CTFs are online challenges that test teams’ ability to solve challenges that relate to the cybersecurity industry. With each challenge solved, a team acquires a “flag,” and the team with the most flags by the end of the competition is named the winner. CTFs are becoming more common throughout the country as the cybersecurity industry expands rapidly, and employers often use them as way to assess and recruit talent.

The MECC “redFoxes” are comprised of MECC students Macarthur Inbody (captain), Danielle Lamb, Noah Sturgill, Nathaniel Mullins, and Jonathan (Shane) Strong. The team is coached by Associate Professor Ritchie Deel. MECC is proud to support the “redFoxes” as they prepare for the championship round that will take place online in April (original plans to hold the competition onsite at Radford University have been amended due to national health concerns).