UMBC Men’s Cross Country Opens 2026 Season With Runner-Up Finish at Mount St. Mary’s Duals
UMBC men’s cross country opened its 2026 season with an encouraging performance Friday afternoon, placing second at the Mount St. Mary’s 5K Duals in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The Retrievers finished with 30 points, only four behind meet champion Howard, which won with 26, while host Mount St. Mary’s placed third with 79. Senior Liam Meginniss led UMBC with a runner-up individual finish as the Retrievers placed four runners inside the top 10 and showed considerable depth in their season debut.
The annual meet featured Mount St. Mary’s, UMBC, Howard, Towson, Goucher and Washington Adventist, with the men competing over a 5K course at the PNC Sports Complex. UMBC entered the meet with an impressive history at the event, having won the men’s team championship six times, including each of the previous two editions in 2024 and 2025. The Retrievers also won in 2022, giving them three championships in the previous four editions entering Friday.
Meginniss nearly gave UMBC another individual championship. The senior completed the course in 16:05.72 to finish second overall, approximately seven seconds behind Howard sophomore Noah Douglas, who won in 15:58.86. Meginniss kept UMBC near the front of the team standings and gave the Retrievers the low score they needed against a Howard lineup that placed six runners among the top 15.
UMBC head coach Mike DuPaul came into the meet wanting to give some of his younger runners and middle-distance specialists an opportunity, and the results provided plenty of encouragement. DuPaul specifically praised Meginniss’ performance and said the senior should leave the opener with increased confidence. With a long season ahead and significantly longer championship races coming later in the fall, the Mount 5K Duals provided UMBC with an opportunity to evaluate its depth without needing to put everything into an early September race.
William Carranza and Michael Heinemann gave the Retrievers two more outstanding performances directly behind the leaders. Carranza finished fourth overall in 16:11.46, while Heinemann crossed just 0.63 seconds later in fifth at 16:12.09. Carranza was particularly strong over the second half of the race, with DuPaul noting afterward that he passed numerous competitors as the race developed.
Those two finishes were critical to keeping UMBC within striking distance of Howard. The Bison placed Shareef Elfadil third in 16:08.16 before UMBC answered with Carranza and Heinemann in fourth and fifth. Howard then countered with Paul Robinson and Sayid Shakur finishing sixth and seventh, illustrating how closely the two teams were matched near the front of the field.
Sofiane Compaorg gave UMBC its fourth top-10 performance, finishing in 16:19.48. That meant four Retrievers crossed the finish line among the first 10 runners, an impressive concentration near the front for DuPaul’s squad. Howard’s ability to place another runner ninth and maintain its depth further down the standings ultimately gave the Bison enough separation to secure the four-point victory.
UMBC continued to stack runners behind its leading group. Ryan Hartranft placed 11th in 16:39.67, Kohl Girley took 13th in 16:45.94 and Weston Carr finished 15th with a time of 16:52.19. Those results gave the Retrievers seven runners among the first 15 finishers listed by UMBC and demonstrated the depth DuPaul wanted to evaluate in the opening meet.
Freshman S Baba Swaray added another encouraging result in his first collegiate cross country race. Swaray finished 16th overall in 17:12.54, giving UMBC another young runner with an early opportunity to gain collegiate racing experience. His performance fit directly into DuPaul’s objective of using the season opener to put younger members of the roster into meaningful competitive situations.
Howard deserved the team championship after receiving contributions throughout its lineup. Douglas won the individual title, Elfadil placed third, Robinson took sixth, Shakur seventh, William Shepherd ninth and Ashton Thomas 14th. That depth allowed Howard to snap UMBC’s two-year winning streak at the event despite the Retrievers putting Meginniss, Carranza, Heinemann and Compaorg near the front.
There is also important historical context behind UMBC’s performance at this particular meet. The Retrievers won the Mount 5K Duals in 2005, 2008, 2014, 2022, 2024 and 2025, tying American for the most men’s championships in the event’s history entering this season. Former Retriever Daniel Danilovitz also won the individual race in both 2024 and 2025, meaning UMBC entered Friday having captured consecutive team and individual championships.
Finishing second therefore ends an impressive run at the Mount, but UMBC still came away with several positives that could matter more later in the season. Meginniss demonstrated that he can contend near the front, Carranza and Heinemann gave the Retrievers two more runners separated by less than a second, and Compaorg provided another top-10 result. The presence of Hartranft, Girley, Carr and Swaray behind that group gives DuPaul several lineup options as the distances and level of competition increase.
The Retrievers will not have to wait long for their next opportunity. UMBC travels to Annapolis for Navy’s Cantello Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12, before competing at Lehigh’s Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 2. The schedule becomes increasingly important from there, with a trip to Virginia on Oct. 16 followed by the America East Championships on Oct. 30 and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional competition on Nov. 13.
For an opening 5K in early September, UMBC accomplished much of what it needed to accomplish. The Retrievers did not defend their team championship, but a four-point loss to Howard while using the meet to emphasize younger athletes and middle-distance runners gives the coaching staff plenty to work with. More importantly, four top-10 performances and several promising results farther down the lineup indicate UMBC could have the depth necessary to become increasingly dangerous as the championship portion of the schedule approaches.
MSB Take
A second-place finish does not tell the entire story for UMBC. The Retrievers were only four points away from winning a meet in which DuPaul specifically wanted to test younger athletes and middle-distance specialists, and they still managed to put four runners inside the top 10. That is an encouraging starting point for a team that has historically performed extremely well at the Mount St. Mary’s season opener.
Meginniss was the biggest individual takeaway. Finishing second in 16:05.72 and staying within roughly seven seconds of Douglas gives UMBC a veteran who appears ready to lead the front of the lineup. Carranza and Heinemann finishing fourth and fifth makes the result even more promising because championship cross country requires much more than one elite runner.
The depth is what could ultimately determine UMBC’s ceiling this fall. The Retrievers had runners finishing throughout the front portion of the field, and Swaray gained valuable experience in his collegiate debut. If that young group develops around veterans such as Meginniss and Compaorg, UMBC should have a competitive lineup when the America East Championships arrive at the end of October.
Howard was better on this particular afternoon and deserved the victory, but UMBC’s season opener should still be viewed positively. The Retrievers have a long way to go before championship season, and this was a strong foundation on which to build.
