Marquette's cross country programs made a resounding statement in its first race of the 2026 season. Led by senior Andrew Pleasant and freshman Matthew Plath's top-five individual finishes, the boys' team captured first place at the 421 Run hosted by West Central High School. Junior Katie Plath clocked a fourth-place finish overall to help the girls' squad to a third-place result. Pleasant covered the 5k course in 17:22 with Plath stopping the clock at 18:31. Junior Aedan Hassett recorded a time of 19:45. Sophomore Greg Hopper crossed the line at 22:09, one second ahead of teammate Zachary Zhu. Freshman Elias Sawaya came in at 22:39 in his first race as a Blazer. Junior Mateo Gonzalez rounded out the scoring for Marquette with a time of 23:50. Katie Plath was at the front of the pack throughout the race as she logged a 23:20, good for third place overall. Freshman Sloane Nelson covered the course in 28:05. Fellow freshman Navaeh Farmer registered a 29:00 result. Freshman Sophi Skalka crossed the finish line at 29:13, and freshman Ellie Hopper stopped the clock at 34:25. Marquette returns to the course Wednesday afternoon when it crosses the border to compete in the Raider Early Season Invite at 5 pm ET/4 pm CT.