PHC sent three teams to compete at the 2025 Washington, D.C. Nationals Cyber 9/12 Strategy Competition, and all three teams qualified for and competed in semifinals. One team, comprised of Abigail Kent, Roman Hogancamp, and Tom Conger, took home the award for Best Written Brief. A second team, consisting of Ellie Munshi, Matt Harris, Mark Roose, and Noah Freeman, placed second in the overall competition, defeating teams from the US Airforce Academy, Air Command and Staff College, Duke University, Stanford University, Columbia University, and American University, among many other prestigious competitors.
Head Coach Sam Watkins (Class of '15) said, “We’re pretty happy with second place at Nationals for only having done this for four years. Our goal is still first place as ever, but this was a big step forward for us.”
Watkins' strategy for organizing the cyber teams is to distribute different students with different strengths across the teams. Because of this, no matter what the scenario or the question the judges asked, someone had done the research and was ready to answer.
“A huge part of learning to coach has been to see people not as skills and abilities but as possibilities. One of the coolest parts about this is taking a person as a possibility, and watching them grow,” Watkins said.
Munshi saw this growth. “Every single one of us was new to the competition. We had no idea what we were doing going into it, but our team bonded really well together and matched well. We were able to work so cohesively. It was cool to see that even though you’re new, you can do this.”
“Winning is obviously one of the best things, but another one of the best things was the experience,” said Freeman.
From observing the other teams, he was inspired to speak and present with confidence: “I know I can do better,” he said
“Especially for the individuals who hadn’t done this before, they showed marked growth. So, I look at the competition as a win, simply because I can tell they've learned a lot,” Watkins said. “From that perspective, it was a complete success.”
Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.