November 6, 2026
BILLINGS, Mont. - Carroll (Mont.) placed all five scoring runners between fifth and 11th overall to win the women’s 6-kilometer team title with 39 points at the Frontier Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 6, at Amend Park.
The Fighting Saints earned their second straight conference title, their fifth team title in the past seven seasons. CC will represent the Frontier Conference to the 2026 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championships in two weeks at Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.
Bellevue finished second with 109 points, thanks to Grace Steinmetz where she captured her second straight Frontier Conference individual title. She clocked a time of 21 minutes, 12.6 seconds, finishing 38.4 seconds ahead of Valley City State's (N.D.) Frida Barrera. Barrera finished with a time of 21:51.
Maggie Boley gave Bellevue two of the first three finishers with a third-place time of 22:03.5. Dakota State’s (S.D.) Valerija Curikova took fourth in 22:19.4.
The top four place finishers - Steinmetz, Barrera, Boley, and Curikova - will run at the NAIA National Championships.
Carroll’s tightly grouped scoring lineup provided the difference in the team competition. Ryah O’Dell led the team in fifth at 22:53.8, one second ahead of sixth-place Jayna Boonstra. Audrey vanWestrienen finished eighth in 23:09.3 and Ariel Brewer followed ninth in 23:10.8. Ruthanne Arthun completed the scoring in 11th at 23:13.2, giving Carroll a spread of just 19.4 seconds from its first scorer to its fifth.
Carroll also had Nikki Nau finish 12th in 23:17.1 and Amelia Mayes take 14th in 23:21.8. Its five scorers recorded a combined time of 1:55:21 and an average of 23:04. Bellevue’s combined scoring time was 2:00:55, with an average of 24:11.
Dickinson St. and Montana Western each scored 129 points for third-place tie in the team standings. Loli Jarrett led Dickinson State (N.D.) in seventh at 23:04.2, while Mia Handran added a 13th-place finish in 23:21.0. Natalee Stevens paced Montana Western in 16th at 23:25.4, followed by Justene Santi in 18th at 23:46.2.
Montana Tech placed fifth with 138 points behind Paige Braseth’s 21st-place finish in 24:06.6. Dakota State finished sixth with 140 points. Bismarck State took seventh with 156, led by Brynn Crane’s 10th-place time of 23:12.0. Valley City State finished eighth with 182 points.
Neva Lowe led MSU-Northern in 23rd at 24:12.6 as the team placed ninth with 203 points. Host Rocky Mountain College finished 10th with 229 points, paced by Samantha Krantz in 42nd at 25:43.7. Providence (Mont.) placed 11th with 283 points, with Mia Clendennen leading the team in 50th at 26:35.2. The race had 86 finishers.
| 2026 Frontier Women's Cross Country All-Conference |
| Rank |
Name |
School |
Time |
| 1 |
Grace Steinmetz+ |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
21:12.6 |
| 2 |
Frida Barrera+ |
Valley City State (N.D.) |
21:51.0 |
| 3 |
Maggie Boley+ |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
22:03.5 |
| 4 |
Valerija Curikova+ |
Dakota State (S.D.) |
22:19.4 |
| 5 |
Ryah O'Dell |
Carroll (Mont.) |
22:53.8 |
| 6 |
Jayna Boonstra |
Carroll (Mont.) |
22:54.8 |
| 7 |
Loli Jarrett |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
23:04.2 |
| 8 |
Audrey vanWestrienen |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:09.3 |
| 9 |
Ariel Brewer |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:10.8 |
| 10 |
Brynn Crane |
Bismarck State (N.D.) |
23:12.0 |
| 11 |
Ruthanne Arthun |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:13.2 |
| 12 |
Nikki Nau |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:17.1 |
| 13 |
Mia Handran |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
23:21.0 |
| 14 |
Amelia Mayers |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:21.8 |
| 15 |
Faye Holland |
Carroll (Mont.) |
23:22.7 |
| +qualified for NAIA National meet |
Shannon Flynn was named the league’s Pepsi Coach-of-the-Year after guiding the Saints to the conference title.
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Carroll (Mont.)
2026 Frontier Conference
Women's Cross Country Champion
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Shannon Flynn (Mont.)
2026 Pepsi Frontier Conference
Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year |