The men’s and women’s cross country teams took advantage of their home-course advantage at the BIG EAST Championships Saturday morning, finishing fifth and fourth while setting multiple program firsts at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The men’s team’s fifth place finish matches last year’s conference result and ties the best conference finish in program history. Its 129 points was the best ever for Marquette at the BIG EAST Championships.

Sophomore Daniel Pederson led the way for the Golden Eagles with an eighth-place finish at 25:01. It was the first ever top-10 finish by a Marquette men’s runner in a BIG EAST championship meet.

Alec Miller (17th), Jonathan Klaiber (31st), Brad Eagan (36th), Aric Miller (37th), Ryan Burd (39th) and Henry Mierzwa (43rd) followed Pederson.

Both Pederson and Miller were named All-BIG EAST performers following the race. This marks the first time in program history in which multiple runners on the men’s side received the honor.

Meanwhile, the women’s team had its best conference finish in over a decade after narrowly edging Xavier for fourth.

Senior Jennifer Parker was at the forefront for Marquette, finishing 22nd overall. A pack of Golden Eagles closely followed— Mary Hanson (24th), Courtney Dugan (25th), Jennifer Parker (28th), Lauren Fuqua (33rd), Meghan Carroll (37th) and Caitlin McGauley (44th). 

Villanova captured the BIG EAST title for the men while Georgetown attained the first place honor for the women.

After a historic result at its most important meet of the year so far, Marquette will look to continue its good form November 11 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Terre Haute, Indiana.