April 7, 2026

HELENA, Mont. – Dakota State (S.D.) and Carroll (Mont.) were listed on the on the third edition of the 2026 Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field weekly honors, announced by the conference office Tuesday.

Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete-of-the-Week: Oliviyah Thornton, Dakota State (S.D.) Thornton, a junior from Garretson, S.D., was selected as the Field Athlete-of-the-Week.

Thornton had a monstrous home opener outdoor track & field meet for Dakota State (S.D.) in the Steinborn/Beacom Twilight, a dual meet with NCAA Division I South Dakota State. She produced a pair of NAIA 'A' automatic qualifying marks, Dan Beacom Track & Field facility track meet records, and shattered school records in both hammer throw and shot put.

Thornton threw her career best 56.04 meters (183 feet, 10 inches) to win the hammer throw title. Her hammer throw is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA.

Thornton produced another facility record in the shot put, winning the event after tossing 14.30 meters (46 feet, 11 inches). Her shot-put mark is No. 3 in the NAIA.

She was third in the discus behind two NCAA Division I throwers, hitting the mark of 41.10 meters (134 feet, 10 inches).

This is Thornton’s first career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field weekly honor.

Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete-of-the-Week: Claire Bucklin, Carroll (Mont.) Bucklin, a sophomore from Sunburst, Mont., was chosen as the Track Athlete-of-the-Week. 

Bucklin surpassed the NAIA ‘B’ standard as she won the 400-meter hurdles with a time equivalent to her personal best for Carroll (Mont.) at the Digger Spring Series I in Butte, Mont.  She clocked a time of 1 minute, 2.94 seconds in the race.  This will be her second trip to the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. 

Bucklin also placed in the top 3 in the 100-meter hurdles in the same meet, recording a time of 15.65 seconds.

This is Bucklin’s first career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field weekly honor.
 

WEEK	FIELD	TRACK
3	Oliviyah Thornton, Dakota State (S.D.)	Claire Bucklin, Bellevue (Neb.)
2	Adarra Hagelund, Dickinson State (N.D.)	Grace Steinmetz, Bellevue (Neb.)
1	Chloe Gunderson, Dickinson State (N.D.)	Amelie Steins, Dakota State (S.D.)

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