Emmitsburg, Md. – The UMBC women's cross-country team kicked off its 2026 campaign with a third-place finish at the Mount St. Mary's Invitational on Friday afternoon, setting the tone for an exciting season ahead.

"Coming into this meet, our goal was to showcase the talent and potential of our younger athletes and middle-distance specialists, and I couldn't be prouder of how they rose to the occasion," exclaimed Retrievers' head coach Mike DuPaul.

Freshman Alyssa Mattes dazzled in her collegiate debut, racing to a team-best sixth place in the 5,000k event with a time of 19:29.46. Fellow freshman Kiki Andersen flashed her potential with a top-10 finish, placing ninth in 19:37.27. "Alyssa and Kiki executed the race plan perfectly," DuPaul added. "The future of our team is very bright with our freshmen already performing so well."

Sophomore sisters Emily Mitroka (20:27.36) and Elizabeth Mitroka (20:35.43) delivered a powerful one-two punch, finishing back-to-back in 13th and 14th place^, respectively.

Olivia Virago (23^rd, 21:42.66) and Ava Huffman (29^th, 24:27.31) rounded out UMBC's scoring

Howard won the event with 28 points, followed by Towson (48 points) and UMBC (64 points).