Students and faculty from Suffolk County Community College’s Cybersecurity program were nationally recognized for their performance in the National Cyber League (NCL) Fall 2025 competition season.
The National Cyber League is a learning-centered competition that challenges students with real-world cybersecurity tasks commonly performed by professionals in the field. Through individual and team-based events, participants apply classroom knowledge to hands-on scenarios such as system analysis, threat detection, and cybersecurity defense, while earning detailed skills reports that demonstrate workforce readiness to prospective employers.
Suffolk team members Garret Alpers, Michael Gomez, Anthony D’Gracia, Arshad Nanan, Miles Hannaford, Hannan Ahmad, Maksym Tomenchuk, Cody Buckland, Charley Fernandez, Jullio Colado, Jutin Gebbia and Gabriel Liquori exhibited dedication, enthusiasm and skills that align with industry-recognized CompTIA Security+ competencies and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) frameworks.
Coached by Specialist/Adjunct Instructor Jonathan Sadowski, who is also the cybersecurity club advisor, Suffolk County Community College students competed against more than 8,520 students from 490 colleges and universities nationwide, earning a #27 national ranking in the NCL Cyber Power Rankings for the fall 2025 season. Alpers received a Diamond Award for his top performance across both the Individual and Team rounds of the competition.
“This national recognition and top-30 finish reflects the strength of Suffolk’s cybersecurity curriculum and the dedication of our students,” Sadowski said. “Their success in a highly competitive national field demonstrates not only their technical skills, but also their ability to collaborate, adapt, and perform under real-world conditions — preparing them for careers in this rapidly evolving field.”
