August 19, 2026
HELENA, Mont. – Defending Frontier Conference Champion Rocky Mountain (Mont.) was selected as the favorite to repeat in the 2026 Frontier Conference Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason poll.
The Battlin’ Bears collected six first-place votes and 92 points to claim the top spot in the 11-team preseason poll. RMC edged Carroll (Mont.), which received three first-place votes and 91 points.
Rocky Mountain captured the 2025 Frontier Conference championship at Amend Park in Billings, Mont., ending Carroll’s run of four consecutive conference titles. The Battlin’ Bears scored 38 points in last year’s championship, placing five runners among the top 13 scoring positions.
Carroll finished runner-up with 50 points in last year’s conference meet. The Fighting Saints placed four runners among the top 14 scoring positions.
RMC and CC qualified for the NAIA national meet last season, with the Battlin’ Bears finishing fourth and Saints 16
th.
Dakota State (S.D.) was picked third in the 2026 preseason poll with 77 points, just one point ahead of Bellevue (Neb.) with 76 points.
Montana Tech was selected fifth in this year’s preseason poll with 68 points. Bismarck State followed in sixth with 54 points, while Dickinson State (N.D.) was seventh with 53 points.
Valley City State (N.D.) was picked eighth with 32 points. MSU-Northern and Montana Western tied for ninth with 25 points apiece, while Providence (Mont.) rounded out the poll in 11th with 12 points.
The Frontier Conference Cross Country Championships will return to Amend Park in Billings, hosted by Rocky Mountain. The conference meet will be held on Friday, Nov. 6.
The team winner receives the Frontier Conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA Cross Country National Championships at Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday, Nov. 20.
| 2026 Frontier Conference Men's Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Poll |
| RANK |
SCHOOL |
POINTS
(FIRST PLACE VOTES) |
| 1 |
|
92
(6) |
| 2 |
|
91
(3) |
| 3 |
|
77 |
| 4 |
|
76 |
| 5 |
|
68 |
| 6 |
|
54 |
| 7 |
|
53 |
| 8 |
|
32 |
| T-9 |
|
25 |
| T-9 |
|
25 |
| 11 |
|
12 |