WASHINGTON -- The Atlantic 10 Conference recognized George Mason sophomore Biruk Beardsley and fellow Patriot Ella Semple as its Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Performers of the Week, respectively. Davidson freshman Charlotte Moor and VCU freshman Jonathan Hess earned Men’s and Women’s Rookie of the Week, respectively. The awards, which were announced on Tuesday, are for the first week of competitions from August 26 to August 31.  
 

Beardsley finished fifth overall at the Spider Alumni Open at Richmond. The Charlottesville, VA native behind four University of Virginia runners, which is ranked No. 6 in the nation. Beardsley finished the 6K race in 18:02.5. 
 

Hess, who is from West Milton, PA, made his collegiate debut at the Spider Alumni Open. He finished seventh out of 140 runners and was the first freshman to cross the finish line. Hess completed the 6K race in 18:10.7 and had the first top 10 finish for VCU at the event since 2017.
 

Semple, a graduate student from Staffordshite, England, placed sixth at the Spider Alumni Open. She raced to a time of 13:36.4 in the 4K event.  Semple placed in sixth behind four UVA runners, which won the event.  
 

In her first collegiate race, Moor finished 14th out of 100 competitors with a time of 14:14.2. Moor, from New Canaan, CT, was one of five Wildcats to finish in the top 20. She helped Davidson secure a runner-up finish in the Wildcats’ season opener. 

Date	Men’s Performer	Men’s Rookie	Women’s Performer	Women’s Rookie
9/2/25	Biruk Beardsley, GM	Jonathan Hess, VCU	Ella Semple, GM	Charlotte Moor, DAV