August 19, 2026
HELENA, Mont. – Defending Frontier Conference champion Carroll (Mont.) was tabbed as the favorite in the 2026 Frontier Conference Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason poll.
The Fighting Saints collected nine first-place votes and totaled 100 points to take the top spot in the 11-team preseason poll. Montana Tech received the other first-place vote and finished second with 91 points.
Carroll enters the 2026 season after capturing its fifth Frontier Conference championship in the past six years. The Fighting Saints won the 2025 conference title at Amend Park in Billings, Mont., scoring 58 points in the 6-kilometer race. Carroll placed four runners consecutively from ninth through 12th and its fifth scoring runner finished 16th.
Montana Tech finished seven points behind Carroll with 65 points to claim runner-up honors in last year’s conference championship.
CC placed 20
th, while MT finished 23
rd in last year’s NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championship.
Dakota State (S.D.) was selected third with 74 points, followed closely by Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in fourth with 71 points. Bellevue (Neb.) rounded out the top five with 65 points.
Bismarck State (N.D.) was sixth in the 2026 preseason poll with 61 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) followed in seventh with 41 points, while Montana Western was eighth with 34 points and Valley City State (N.D.) ninth with 32 points.
MSU-Northern and Providence (Mont.) tied for 10th with 18 points apiece.
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 Women's Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Poll |
| RANK |
SCHOOL |
POINTS
(FIRST PLACE VOTES) |
| 1 |
|
100
(9) |
| 2 |
|
91
(1) |
| 3 |
|
74 |
| 4 |
|
71 |
| 5 |
|
65 |
| 6 |
|
61 |
| 7 |
|
41 |
| 8 |
|
34 |
| 9 |
|
32 |
| T-10 |
|
18 |
| T-10 |
|
18 |