GULF SHORES, Ala. — A team of Gulf Shores High School students went up against college competitors at the National Cyber Summit in Huntsville and came home with a third-place finish. Only two college teams placed higher.
The Gulf Shores High School cybersecurity team finished third overall in the Cyber Cup competition at the 2026 National Cyber Summit, earning $750 in prize money. A second Gulf Shores team, competing in the event for the first time, finished 10th out of 16 teams and placed ahead of several college teams along the way.
Two teams, two strong showings
The third-place team was made up of Sonny Dove, Kai Shults, Rory Davis and Ian Davis. Competing against a field that included collegiate teams, the four students finished behind only two college squads.
The school’s second team — Ayaan Patel, Cody Caldwell, Denys Monchanov and Casey Wates — was making its first appearance in the competition. The group finished 10th out of 16 teams, outscoring several college-level teams.
Team coach Jamie McClung said the results reflect both the students’ commitment and the direction of the school’s program.
“To place 3rd against college-level competition, and to have a second team beat multiple college teams as well, speaks to the dedication these students bring to cybersecurity and to the strength of the program we’re building here at Gulf Shores,” McClung said.
The finish marks a significant achievement for the computer science program at Gulf Shores City Schools.
About the National Cyber Summit
The National Cyber Summit is held each year at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, a city whose aerospace, defense and federal research presence has made it one of the country’s hubs for cybersecurity work. The 2026 summit ran Sept. 22-24. It is hosted by the North Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association and Cyber Huntsville, and organizers describe it as offering educational, collaborative and workforce development opportunities for industry leaders and rising professionals.
The summit has a long history in North Alabama. The 2017 edition was billed as the ninth National Cyber Summit, and the event has continued to grow as Huntsville’s cybersecurity sector has expanded. Organizers have already announced dates for 2027: Sept. 21-23.
What the Cyber Cup involves
The Cyber Cup is the summit’s hands-on competition. It has been run as a “capture the flag” contest, a common format in cybersecurity competitions in which teams work to break into computer systems or take control of them to locate hidden “flags” — strings of data that prove a challenge has been solved. In past years, the competition has featured both industry and student divisions and has drawn teams from across the country, with scholarship assistance offered to student winners.
Capture-the-flag competitions test a wide range of practical skills, including finding and exploiting software weaknesses, analyzing digital evidence and working under time pressure. For high school students, placing near the top against college teams means holding their own against competitors who are often several years further along in their technical training.
A program on the rise
The National Cyber Summit result is the latest in a series of strong showings by Gulf Shores High School’s cybersecurity students.
In early 2025, the school entered the University of Alabama’s Capture the Flag Cybersecurity Competition for the first time, and one Gulf Shores team finished second in its division. That competition was a six-hour, “Jeopardy-style” event covering cryptography, binary exploitation and digital forensics, with high school teams taking part from across the state and nation. McClung said at the time that the students went in with “no expectations” and that he was “ecstatic” with how they performed.
The school’s cybersecurity teams have since added a first-place finish at the University of Alabama Cybersecurity Competition to their record.
The coach behind the teams
McClung teaches computer science, robotics and cybersecurity at Gulf Shores High School. In May 2026, he received the Chiquita Marbury Technology Innovation Award, which recognizes educators who demonstrate exemplary models of technology teaching and leadership.
His work extends beyond cybersecurity. The school’s robotics team earned the Rookie All-Star Award at the 2026 Magnolia Regional, the highest honor available to a first-year team, and participation grew from six students in the program’s first year to 26 in its second. McClung also served on the statewide committee that developed Alabama’s new Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards.
“Mr. McClung’s classroom is the kind of place where students do not just learn technology, they use it to solve real problems,” Jessica Sampley, Gulf Shores City Schools’ director of academies and career technical education, said when the award was announced.
Why cybersecurity skills matter
Demand for cybersecurity workers has grown across government, the military, health care and private industry as organizations face a steady stream of attacks on their computer systems. Alabama has seen those threats close to home: earlier this month, the Alabama Board of Nursing was still rebuilding after a Sept. 1 cyberattack that disrupted its online services.
Competitions such as the Cyber Cup give students experience with the same kinds of problems professionals handle, and they put students in front of employers, colleges and military academies that recruit at these events. Huntsville’s concentration of defense contractors and federal agencies makes the National Cyber Summit a particularly valuable stage for students interested in the field.
A young district building its programs
Gulf Shores City Schools began operating on June 1, 2019, as the first school district to separate from the Baldwin County school system. The district includes Gulf Shores Elementary, Gulf Shores Middle and Gulf Shores High schools.
In the years since, the district has built out academies and career technical programs, including the computer science, robotics and cybersecurity offerings McClung leads. For a district of its size, sending two teams to a national-level competition — and seeing both outperform college teams — is a sign that those investments are paying off.
With one team finishing on the podium and a second team gaining experience against older competitors, Gulf Shores High School’s cybersecurity program appears positioned to keep building on its results.