Salisbury, Md. – The George Mason men's and women's cross country teams kicked off their 2026 seasons on a high note at the Salisbury University Fall Classic on September 5.

With a pair of strong performances at Winter Place Park, the George Mason men's team won the 8k team title, while the women's team finished as the runner-up in the 6k. The Patriots competed against a field that included Navy, Salisbury University, Regent University, District of Columbia, and Maryland Eastern Shore.

Men's results (8k)

The men earned the team title with a score of 19. Graduate student Alex DeRoussel paced the event and captured the individual title with a winning time of 24:51.6.
Junior Tarek Benlamkaddem finished just behind DeRoussel, placing second with a time of 24:53.8.

Senior Biruk Beardsley (25:05.7), sophomore Daniel Hayes (25:25.1), and freshman Kolbin Heberlig (25:43.5) rounded out the Patriots' scoring group with fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-place finishes, respectively.

"It was a good opening day for us," said head coach Andrew Gerard. "It was very productive from the perspective that it gave us a good early season measuring stick. We have eight weeks and three more races until championship season kicks off, so there's definitely a good chunk of time to get some productive work in. This served as a high-quality first effort and was super valuable from the coaching side."

Women's results (6k)

Led by graduate student Ailbhe Barnes's fourth-place finish (21:33.8), the Patriots finished as the runners-up in the 6k, trailing only Navy.

Graduate student Kara Mickelson and senior Sarah Clark also turned in top-10 finishes. Mickelson placed ninth in 22:00.2, with Clark right behind her in 10th at 22:00.3.

"I am really pleased with the effort and outcome for today," said assistant coach Tony Mihalich. "This early on, it's important to compete based on where you're at in the season, so we focused on one or two key elements we wanted to nail before the next phase, and I'd say we nailed them. There's always something special about seeing the team in uniform for the first time each season. It feels like summer training ends and the season's begun."

The Patriots will look to build on their hot start when they return to action on Friday, Sept. 18, at the Main Line Invitational hosted by Haverford College.