November 7, 2025
BILLINGS, Mont. – NAIA’s No. 20 ranked Carroll (Mont.) emerged victorious in the 2025 Frontier Conference Women's Cross Country Championship meet, presented by First Interstate Bank, held at Amend Park, hosted by Rocky Mountain (Mont.). The team's impressive performance culminated in a total of 58 points, outpacing their nearest competitor, 2024 defending champion and 17
th ranked Montana Tech, by seven points (65 points).
The Fighting Saints collected their fifth title in the last six conference meets.
(RV) Rocky Mountain finished third with 109 points, followed by (RV) Dakota State (S.D.) fourth with 126 points.
Bismarck State (N.D.) was fifth with 145 points, Bellevue (Neb.) sixth with 160 points, Dickinson State (N.D.) seventh with 187 points. Providence (Mont.) eighth with 196 points, Valley City State (N.D.) ninth with 208 points, Montana Western tenth with 234 points, and MSU-Northern 11
th with 243 points.
The individual race was won by Bellevue's (Neb.) Grace Steinmetz with an exceptional time of 21 minutes, 3.60 seconds. She was named to the Frontier Conference Women’s Runner-of-the-Year.
Steinmetz, along with Kesley Stensland-Plymale of Providence, Frida Barrera of Valley City State, and Ava Stafford of Bismarck State (N.D.) earned the Frontier’s individual national qualifier.
Carroll received the Frontier Conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 21. There will be a selection show on Tuesday (Nov. 11) at 4 p.m. (Central Time)/3 p.m. (Mountain Time) to announce the at-large team bids to the national meet.
The awards ceremony was held at the conclusion of the championship meet. The top 15 place finishers received the All-Conference awards. Below is the top 15 individuals being named to 2025 Frontier Conference Women's Cross Country All-Conference team:
| 2025 Frontier Women's Cross Country All-Conference |
| Rank |
Name |
School |
Time |
| 1 |
Grace Steinmetz+ |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
21:03.60 |
| 2 |
Kelsey Stensland-Plymale+ |
Providence (Mont.) |
22:13.10 |
| 3 |
Frida Barrera+ |
Valley City State (N.D.) |
22:28.90 |
| 4 |
Ava Stafford+ |
Bismarck State (N.D.) |
22:34.40 |
| 5 |
Alyssa Jany |
Montana Tech |
22:39.70 |
| 6 |
Kamryn Comba |
Montana Tech |
22:54.70 |
| 7 |
Valerija Curikova |
Dakota State (S.D.) |
22:58.90 |
| 8 |
Hannah Geisen |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
23:06.80 |
| 9 |
Ryah O'Dell |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:08.30 |
| 10 |
Annie Emmerich |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:09.00 |
| 11 |
Madalen Shipman |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:10.10 |
| 12 |
Jayna Boonstra |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:10.50 |
| 13 |
Olivia Heiner |
Montana Western |
23:14.60 |
| 14 |
Amy Broek |
Montana Tech |
23:14.80 |
| 15 |
Maya Pearcy |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
23:18.40 |
| +qualified for NAIA National meet |
Shannon Flynn was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year after guiding the Saints to the conference title.
The Frontier Conference Cross Country Champions of Character recipients will be listed on the FC conference website on Monday.
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Carroll (Mont.)
2025 Frontier Conference
Women's Cross Country Champion
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2025 Frontier Conference
Women's Cross Country All-Conference |
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Grace Steinmetz - Bellevue (Neb.)
2025 Frontier Conference Women's Cross Country Individual Winner |
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Shannon Flynn - Carroll (Mont.)
2025 Frontier Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year |