Six Kalamazoo College computer science students competed Sunday against hundreds of top institutions in the 2026 International Collegiate Programming Contest.
In their East Division Regional at Grand Valley State University, the Hornets faced a five-hour challenge with one computer, no internet, and up to 14 programming problems to solve. Team “Bit by Bit” consisted of Benjamin Whitsett ’27, Juniper Pasternak ’27 and Saba Sikharuldize ’29. Team “Byte for Byte” included Lena Barrett ’27, Ben Asmus ’27 and visiting international student Bushra Al Hamadani.
The squads faced multiple teams from institutions such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State in their regional, finishing 9th and 26th, respectively. With school standings determined by the average scores of all their representing teams, K finished second to Denison among liberal arts colleges.
K competed in the larger North America East Division overall, which included schools such as Harvard, MIT, Purdue University, Columbia University and NYU. Bit by Bit finished 88th overall, placing in the top 34% of competitors.
“The fact that one of our teams finished ahead of squads from MSU, Purdue, and Penn State, institutions with huge computer science programs and dedicated competitive-programming clubs, is a testament to the quality of our students and their passion for learning,” said Associate Professor of Computer Science Sandino Vargas-Perez. “I only offered them my mentorship, a room to struggle productively, and a couple of boxes of pizza, while they practiced their coding skills and learned how to solve hard problems.
“On our way back to Kalamazoo after the competition, I overheard the teams talking about future plans: ‘For the upcoming years, we should aim to reach the top 20 in the East Central NA Division and be the top [GLCA] school of the region!’ We will, without a doubt, work hard to achieve those goals!”