Student Athlete

When the call-up to El Salvador's Senior National Team finally came through, Mia Arevalo-Delcid didn't need a moment to let it sink in. She already knew exactly what it meant. "That's the big leagues right there," said the George Mason women's soccer standout. "It's all eyes in the country on you. It's going to be amazing.”

George Mason University Athletics and Northwest Federal Credit Union announced an expanded partnership that connects student-athletes with financial education, simple banking tools, and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities designed to support their success on campus, in the community, and after they graduate.

A former member of George Mason's 1993 NCAA national runner-up women's soccer team, George Mason alumna Hollis Kosco has turned her athletic experience into a global profession in sports management and operations.

As a freshman, George Mason University Honors College student Marley Oare chose the Global Affairs Program because she pictured herself working for the CIA or the United Nations. That quickly changed when she took a natural science course in her first semester.

George Mason University golfer Vaughn McMeans has been named the 2026 Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Player of the Year, becoming the first Patriot in the program’s history to earn the conference's top individual honor. 

Sometimes things just seem to fall into place. That’s what happened for George Mason University women’s volleyball freshman player Nia Thompson. Nia’s mother, Amy Boone Thompson, BS Physical Education '95, was a dual-sport athlete at George Mason in the 1990s, playing both volleyball and basketball. She was a member of the 1994 CAA Championship women’s volleyball team. 

George Mason University graduate student Logan Messer had no shortage of family or friends on hand as he capped his wrestling career at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Competing just 40 miles from his hometown, Messer delivered a moment years in the making on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

For George Mason University baseball player Evan Blanchard, success isn’t just measured in hits and RBIs. During his internship with Mason Athletics’ marketing department, the third baseman helped design a promotional campaign that brought hundreds of fans—and a surge in attendance—to a men’s basketball rivalry game.

Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns. In the case of George Mason University lacrosse twins Kaitlyn and Regan Bestick, that road has split and come back together several times. Now, as they compete in their final season together and prepare to separate again, they reflect on their time in the Mason Nation.

Twenty years after George Mason’s own Cinderella story, sports dietitians Quinten Patterson and Allison McKay share their chalk-talk for fueling and recovery during the Big Dance.