HELENA, Mont. – The Frontier Conference announced their third edition of the 2026 Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Cross Country Runners of the Week following competition from Sept. 25-26.

Valley City State's Frida Barrera has been named the Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Cross Country Runner of the Week. The announcement came from the Conference office in Helena, Montana on Tuesday morning.

Barrera produced a record-setting performance at the NCAA Division II Augustana Invitational (S.D.) on Sept. 25.  Competing in a field of 263 runners, Barrera completed the 6-kilometer race in 21 minutes, 20.7 seconds to finish 15th overall.  Her time shattered Valley City State's previous 6K school record of 22:27.8 by more than a minute. Barrera also improved her previous personal best by 1 minute, 8.2 seconds.

This is the sixth school record that Barrera has set in her young career. In 2026, she set three indoor school records (800M, 1-Mile, 300M), and two outdoor records (800M, 1500M).

This is the first Erck Hotel/Frontier Conference Runner of the Week honor.

The Vikings will be in Jamestown Friday for the Jimmie Invite. The Women start at 5:15 p.m., the Men begin at 6:00 p.m.