University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu cybersecurity students finished 12th overall out of more than 130 teams in a national collegiate cyber competition, which was held last month in Tampa, Fla., and presented by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C).
The students who traveled to Florida and competed in the 2025 NCAE Cyber Games Invitational were freshman and team captain Kiana Merez, and seniors Nyla Boneza, Blix Hazen, Joel Kawamae, Chloe Kurashima, Branden Ramos, and Shane Zuls. The team was accompanied by Dr. Eli Tsukayama, Associate Professor of Business Administration at UH West O‘ahu.
Faculty sponsor Anthony Eich, the students’ cyber competitions and cybersecurity instructor, and also a UH West O‘ahu graduate, said the event was a great opportunity for the students to showcase their skills on a national level and the team’s performance speaks to the high level of expertise and preparation of UH West O‘ahu’s cybersecurity students.
“I’ve had the privilege of mentoring these students through their preparation for the competition, and I’m incredibly proud of the team,” said Eich, who is also the faculty sponsor for the Cyber Force One school club, which most of the team members are a part of and that supported them in their endeavors.
Eich continued, “Their hard work, dedication, and teamwork have paid off, and it highlights the strength of our cybersecurity program at UH West O‘ahu. It also underscores the importance of competitions like these in providing real-world experience to students as they pursue careers in cybersecurity.”
The UH West O‘ahu team earned its spot in the national invitational after winning the 2025 NCAE Cyber Games Regional Southwest 2 Division in March. Members from that team were Boneza, Hazen, Kawamae, Kurashima, Merez (captain), Ryan Vagay, Kendall Wong, and Zuls.
A testament to ‘dedication and teamwork’
According to its website, the NCAE Cyber Games is a combination of capture the flag (CTF) and red versus blue infrastructure competition. As competitors, students work with their teammates to defend their systems from the NCAE Cyber Games red team. While the red team is their opposition on competition day, students will be vying for the top score against other teams. To beat the competition, their team needs to act as a unified force to keep the red team out of their systems and score points in the CTF.
“I’m incredibly proud of my team since we were UH West O‘ahu’s first-ever competitors in this competition,” said Merez, captain of both the regional and national teams. “To not only take first place at regionals but also represent our school at the national invitational is a testament to our dedication and teamwork.”
Merez continued, “During the competition, we defended against a live red team for the first time. It was challenging, but we did our best to use our experience to defend our infrastructure. This opportunity taught us very important lessons that will stay with us long after this competition, and we are looking forward to participating again next year!”
Team member Hazen said competing at the regional event was a great experience and meeting up with the team on campus at four in the morning to work on the competition together made for a good time.
“Having to actively defend against a red team was totally new to me,” Hazen added. “Having to keep your services up and scoring really forces you to learn in the moment and teaches how to be proactive against attackers.”
Hazen continued, “At the invitational, being in that environment with everyone around you as well really makes the ideas and methodologies that you learn in the moment stick. One more thing I really loved about NCAE was how much they stress it’s for learning and not to worry about it!”
‘So much to be proud of’
Eich wanted to give thanks to the families and faculty who came together to make the travel to Tampa possible, with special notes to Merez, the captain who put the team together; Hazen’s family, who traveled with the team and provided members with team T-shirts; Boneza’s family, who got the team squared away with a travel agency; and Tsukayama, who accompanied the team in Eich’s place as he was unable to attend.
“It was a huge effort and they all came together to get it done, so that these students were able to take their rightful place in Tampa,” Eich said. “There is so much to be proud of, and we plan to be back next year.”
The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) program is managed by the National Security Agency National Cryptologic School, according to the NSA website. Federal partners include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education (NICE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense Office of the Chief Information Officer (DoD-CIO), and U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM).
