Turlock teens among the best in fending off cyberattacks

​ Two ​crack ​teams ​from ​Turlock High School’s Navy JROTC​ will find out soon if they are going to the national competition for CyberPatriot, the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition​. ​

“​These students are serious about preparing themselves for their future​,” coach Carlos Montanez​ said Friday as his THS teams competed online in the regional CyberPatriot contest, beating back hackers, malware and worse in the virtual world. ​

“​They accepted the challenge to enter this national competition and have spent countless hours learning about network security,” Montanez said. “There is no high school level class that can prepare the students to accomplish what they have done.”

Ten students were fending off cyberattacks through the school day Friday and will keep working through the weekend in the Platinum Tier Category Round.

Half of them were a surprise addition after the California competition was re-scored only days earlier, adding a second winning team to the Turlock contingent, Montanez said.

“This is a huge accomplishment, especially when you know who they’re competing against,” he said. “We’re talking about all the big schools, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley schools, the dads and moms that work at Microsoft.”

It has been a good month for THS Navy JROTC students. The school’s 3-Position Air Rifle team, coached by retired Marine Corps Maj. Kelly Cross, won first place in the Western Regional All-Service 3-PAR Championship in Provo, Utah, over the Feb. 13 weekend.

The Bulldogs’ air rifle team beat all JROTC programs west of the Mississippi, including Navy, Army, Marines and Air Force JROTC programs. They now advance to the National Championship in Anniston, Ala., in March.

Shooters captured individual honors as well for the Western region: Nicolas McKeon placed third, Larry Maloney fourth, Ariana Valencia fifth and Dorian Macintosh eighth.

Established by the Air Force Association, the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program was created to educate and motivate students toward careers in cybersecurity and other science​, tech and math fields.​

In all, 3,379 teams registered to compete in CyberPatriot VIII, including 288 teams from California. Turlock’s two teams came out on top in the state competition held Jan. 29 to 31.

The games are scored on defensive skill, but the contest takes teamwork, critical thinking skills and technical knowledge, organizers say, key to a successful career in cybersecurity.

The CyberPatriot contest challenges teams of two to six students to find and resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated environments. Top teams from this online round will win a​ ​trip to Washington, D.C., for the National Finals Competition, where students compete for national recognition and scholarships​.​

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Turlock teens among the best in fending off cyberattacks."