Ex-NCAA women's runner involved in SCOTUS battle over trans athletes speaks out after judge advances case

Attorney Alex Swoyer takes a deep dive into the pivotal cases the Supreme Court could examine in its upcoming term.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Idaho State University women's cross-country runner Mary Kate Marshall will continue her role in a potential landmark women's sports legal battle that's set to reach the Supreme Court after a federal judge's ruling this week. 

U.S. District Judge David Nye rejected a transgender athlete's request to drop the current Hecox v. Little lawsuit, which Marshall has been a defendant in since 2020 after having to compete against a biological male, keeping the case on track to be heard by Supreme Court justices early next year. 

Marshall told Fox News Digital what Nye's ruling means to her. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

"This case gives the Supreme Court the opportunity to affirm that women and girls have the right to compete fairly. Sports have shaped the skills I use every day—skills I wouldn’t have developed without the opportunity for safe and fair competition. Women’s voices deserve to be heard loud and clear at SCOTUS with one clear message: Biological men have no place in women’s sports," Marshall said. 

Marshall, alongside former ISU teammate Madison Kenyon, joined the defendant list in Hecox v. Little after having to face trans athlete June Eastwood of the University of Montana in 2020. 

Former Idaho State University women's athletes Mary Kate Marshall and Madison Kenyon (Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom)

They were originally the ones trying to have the case dismissed after another transgender athlete, Lindsay Hecox, filed a lawsuit to block Idaho's law preventing trans athletes from competing in women's sport in order to join Boise State's women's