Young Midshipmen Lead Navy Men’s Cross Country to Second at Salisbury Fall Classic
The Navy men’s cross country team opened its 2026 campaign with an encouraging look at the future Saturday, finishing second at the Salisbury Fall Classic at Winter Place Park in Salisbury, Maryland. Navy scored 36 points in the 8K race, trailing only George Mason, which captured the team championship with 19 points. What made Navy’s performance particularly notable was the lineup: the Midshipmen competed with two sophomores and 12 freshmen.
Head coach Aaron Lanzel essentially used the season opener as an opportunity to see what his young runners could do over the collegiate 8K distance. For many of Navy’s freshmen, Saturday represented their first competitive five-mile race at the college level, and the warm conditions added another challenge. Lanzel said afterward that expectations were conservative for a group featuring 12 freshmen beginning their collegiate careers, but the results provided plenty of reasons for optimism.
Sophomore Jack Hefty led the way for the Midshipmen with an impressive fifth-place finish. Hefty completed the course in 25:11.4, cutting 22 seconds from the time he recorded at the same meet during his freshman season. His improvement continues an encouraging progression after Hefty led Navy at Salisbury as a freshman in 2025, when he ran 25:33.2 and subsequently earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors.
Fellow sophomore Jacob Officer provided Navy with another top-10 performance, crossing the finish line seventh in 25:31.5. Having Hefty and Officer near the front gave Navy an experienced foundation despite the extremely young lineup surrounding them. Lanzel specifically highlighted both sophomores afterward, noting that the season opener provided them an opportunity to show they were ready to make significant progress this fall.
The most encouraging development, however, may have been the performance of Navy’s freshman class. Wes Anderson immediately established himself as one of the newcomers to watch, finishing eighth overall in his collegiate debut with a time of 25:42.0. Anderson finished only 30.6 seconds behind Hefty and gave Navy three runners among the first eight finishers.
The freshman depth continued immediately behind Anderson. Carson Fischer placed 10th in 25:46.8, Sam Wood finished 11th in 25:57.9 and Liam Beighley followed in 12th at 25:58.9. That gave Navy six runners among the first 12 finishers despite bringing an overwhelmingly freshman-heavy roster to Salisbury.
Navy also demonstrated the pack-running approach that has become an important component of Lanzel’s program. Owen Reece finished 16th in 26:14.6, with Gavin Zais directly behind him in 17th at 26:14.7. Myles Wagner followed in 18th at 26:20.1, while Davis Garrett completed another tightly grouped stretch by placing 19th in 26:26.3.
That meant Navy put 10 runners inside the top 19 despite 12 of its 14 competitors making their collegiate debuts. Logan Carlson added a 22nd-place performance in 26:37.9, while Braden Little finished 23rd in 26:45.7. Clarence Loomis placed 27th at 27:22.5, and Benjamin Schmidt rounded out Navy’s freshman contingent with a 30th-place finish in 27:44.9.
George Mason ultimately proved too strong at the front of the race. Alex DeRoussel captured the individual championship in 24:51.6, narrowly beating teammate Tarek Benlamkaddem, who finished second in 24:53.8. George Mason also received top-10 finishes from Biruk Beardsley, Daniel Hayes and Kolbin Heberlig, allowing the Patriots to finish with just 19 team points.
Still, Navy’s 36 points comfortably secured second place. Host Salisbury finished third with 82 points, while Regent rounded out the four scoring teams. Salisbury’s Gabe Riling was the Sea Gulls’ leading runner, placing 13th overall in 25:59.1.
The result also closely mirrors Navy’s start to the 2025 season. The Midshipmen finished second at Salisbury last year with 37 points, meaning this year’s dramatically younger lineup actually improved the team score by one point. Hefty, who was Navy’s top freshman at the 2025 meet, has already gone from the newcomer leading the group to one of the runners setting the standard for another large freshman class.
Navy will get another opportunity to evaluate its roster Saturday, Sept. 12, when the Midshipmen host the annual Cantello Invitational at the USNA Cross Country Course in Annapolis. Competition begins with the open 5K at 9 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 9:45 a.m. and the men’s 4.9-mile race at 10:30 a.m. After that, Navy’s schedule gets progressively more challenging with the John McNichols Invitational, Paul Short Run and the annual Star Meet against Army leading into the Patriot League Championship.
MSB Take
Second place is a solid result for Navy, but the bigger story coming out of Salisbury is just how young this team was. Sending 12 freshmen into an 8K collegiate race and still scoring only 36 points against a quality George Mason squad gives Lanzel plenty to work with as the season develops. Anderson finishing eighth in his first collegiate race was particularly encouraging, while Fischer, Wood and Beighley immediately showed that this freshman class has legitimate depth.
Hefty’s development is equally important. He cut 22 seconds from his Salisbury time from last season and has gone from being Navy’s top freshman to a sophomore capable of running near the front of a strong Division I field. If Hefty and Officer continue progressing while several of these freshmen develop into consistent scorers, Navy could become considerably stronger by the time the Patriot League Championship arrives.
The Midshipmen did not win their opener, but this was never simply about winning a September meet. Navy gave a huge portion of its future lineup its first taste of collegiate cross country, and that group responded with six runners in the top 12 and 10 in the top 19. For a team looking toward October and November, that might ultimately be more valuable than an opening-week victory.
