BILLINGS, Mont. — Caleb Sarsland captured the men's individual title and qualified for the NAIA National Championships, while Loli Jarrett broke her own school record to lead Dickinson State at the Frontier Conference Cross Country Championships Friday at Amend Park.
Sarsland won the men's 8K in 24:36.7, claiming his second individual victory of the season. The Blue Hawk women tied for third with Montana Western at 129 points, while the men finished sixth with 176 points. Eight Dickinson State runners established personal bests across the two races.
The victory capped a consistent conference season for Sarsland, who finished inside the top 10 in all five of Dickinson State's competitions, including four consecutive top-two finishes. He improved on his third-place finish at last year's conference championships, where he ran 25:01.20. The senior earned All-America honors with a ninth-place finish at the 2025 NAIA National Championships.
Thomas Oylear was Dickinson State's second finisher in the men's race, placing 24th in 27:00.0. Kyler Holinde followed in 32nd with a personal-best 27:20.2, lowering his 8K best for the fourth consecutive race and improving by more than two minutes since the start of the season.
Tristan Rogers added a personal best of 29:23.3 to finish 73rd, while Brady Hoverson placed 81st in a personal-best 29:49.2.
"The men have faced some adversity as a team, but it has brought them closer together," head coach Jay Schell said. "They fought hard and worked together to improve on last year's performance."
On the women's side, Jarrett led Dickinson State with a seventh-place finish in 23:04.2, breaking the school 6K record she established two weeks earlier at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic. The senior lowered her previous record of 23:17.1 by 12.9 seconds and earned All-Conference honors.
Mia Handran joined Jarrett on the All-Conference team, placing 13th in a personal-best 23:21.0. Their performances helped the Blue Hawks improve from seventh at last year's conference championships to a tie for third Friday.
Freshman Andriell Herrera continued her improvement, finishing 17th in a collegiate-best 23:40.3. Herrera has lowered her 6K time by more than three minutes since her first collegiate race at that distance in September.
Amanda Willis also established a personal best, placing 57th in 27:04.7. Kheyerah Bilger followed in 62nd with a season-best 27:26.0, while Taytum Stuhr recorded a personal-best 28:04.9 to finish 66th. Jazmyn Carrywater rounded out the lineup in 72nd at 28:51.5.
"Our women ran a phenomenal race," Schell said. "It was a fabulous team effort from top to bottom. Every one of them fought the entire way."
Sarsland will represent Dickinson State at the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships on Nov. 20 at Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington, where he will look to build on last year's All-America finish.
