LEXINGTON, Va. April 15, 2026 — The Virginia Military Institute team won first place recently at the 2026 Seerist Intellithon in Reston, Virginia.

The prestigious competition hosted by Seerist — a company whose mission is to shape the future of risk intelligence by enabling organizations to proactively anticipate, manage, and respond to global cyber threats — brought together top talent from five senior military colleges including The Citadel, Norwich University, the University of North Georgia, Virginia Tech, as well as VMI, to solve real-world open-source intelligence and security challenges.

The cadet team, sponsored by Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) and Cyber Defense Laboratory (CyDef), included Michael Kelley ’27, Caroline Marini ’26, River Smith ’27, and John Stotler ’27. Col. Imran Ghani, professor in CIS and director of operations for CyDef, was their coach.   

Stotler shared it was an amazing experience. “We utilized tools and skills to collect intelligence and brief highly significant persons on real world activities that were frequently being updated.”

Ghani stated the VMI victory was built on preparation and discipline.

“To prepare for the competition, the cadets conducted multiple rounds of targeted practice using a preemptive, scenario-based approach, which ultimately aligned with the competition. Their commitment, ability to follow structured mentorship, and continuous skill refinement were key factors that led to this success.”

Marianne Hause
Communications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE