BILLINGS, Mont. -- Sophomore Brynn Crane placed 10th in 23:12.0 to earn All-Conference honors Friday at the Frontier Conference Cross Country Championship at Amend Park, and both Bismarck State College teams finished seventh in the 11-team field. Crane's top-15 finish puts her in position for an individual berth at the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship. All 13 Mystics competing at Friday's conference meet notched either a new personal record or a season-high time.
"I couldn't be prouder of how this group competed today," said first-year assistant coach Jake Leingang. "Every runner who stepped to the line ran either a season best or a personal record on the biggest day of the year. That's a credit to the work they've put in all fall and to the culture they've built together."
Men Finish Seventh
Sophomore Xavier Bell led the Mystic men in 23rd place with a 26:54.2 over the 8-kilometer course, 25.4 seconds faster than his previous personal best at the Jimmie Invitational on Oct. 2. Junior Michael Pfliger followed in 26th (27:03.9), just under two seconds faster than his previous personal best in Jamestown last month. Both Bell and Pfliger improved on their 2025 conference championship times by over 50 seconds.
Derek Oswald took 35th (27:24.8), 49.8 seconds faster than at McDowell Dam, and a personal best for him by over six seconds. Freshman Reid Ressler placed 50th (27:54.0), cutting 2:27.8 from his tune-up time and hitting a PR by over 20 seconds, and freshman Nathaniel Schumacher was 57th (28:09.5), 1:22.4 faster than his last race and a 52.5-second PR over his Jimmie Invite time. Sophomore Noah Bedlion crossed half a second later in 58th (28:10.0) as the Mystics' sixth runner, setting a 36-second PR and cutting over a minute off his time from the 2025 conference meet at the same course.
BSC's scoring five finished within 1:15.3 of one another. The Mystics scored 183 points, seven behind sixth-place Dickinson State (176), and finished ahead of Valley City State (208), Montana Western (250), Providence (268) and MSU-Northern (298). Rocky Mountain won the team title with 39 points, followed by Bellevue (65), Carroll (81), Montana Tech (98) and Dakota State (165). Caleb Sarsland of Dickinson State took the men's individual title with a time of 24:36.7.
Crane Cracks the Top 15
Crane ran the 6-kilometer course 1:11.0 faster than her time at the Marauders Tune-Up on Oct. 23, and marked her first time notching a sub-24 minute 6k, besting her previous personal record set one year ago at the 2025 Frontier Conference Championship (23:42.9). Her top-15 finish earns her All-Conference honors, and a chance to qualify for nationals.
"It feels really good to have the hard work pay off, and I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Brynn Crane said. "We all trusted the training and have been focusing on a positive attitude, and as a team we sacrificed the little things, which showed in our performance today."
Sophomore Macy Crane placed 28th in 24:34.2, 1:03.2 faster than at the tune-up and a new season best. Freshman Sundriana Shane took 38th in 25:07.7, notching a personal best by 26 seconds, and freshman Rutendo Masangwi was 49th in 26:32.3, a 2:36.5 improvement from the tune-up and a new personal best. Freshman Davin Nesius placed 65th in 27:56.4 to complete the scoring five and was joined by senior track captain Aliya Schock (73rd, 28:57.8) and fellow freshman Elizabeth Kleven (81st, 32:15.0) as those competing in their first meet of the season, and also setting new personal bests in the 6k.
The Mystic women scored 156 points, 16 behind sixth-place Dakota State (S.D.) (140), and finished ahead of Valley City State (N.D.) (182), MSU-Northern (Mont.) (203), Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (229) and Providence (Mont.) (283). Aliya Schock (73rd, 28:57.8) and Elizabeth Kleven (81st, 32:15.0) also ran for BSC.
Carroll (Mont.) won the women's title with 39 points, followed by Bellevue (Neb.) (109), Dickinson State (N.D.) and Montana Western (tied at 129), Montana Tech (138) and Dakota State. Grace Steinmetz of Bellevue took the women's individual title with a time of 21:12.6.
Up Next
The NAIA will announce at-large teams and individual qualifiers for the National Championship at a selection show Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. CT, which can be seen live on the NAIA's YouTube channel. The national meet is Friday, Nov. 20, at the Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.
Be sure to visit BSCMystics.com and download the MysticNation app to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Mystic Athletics.
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