BILLINGS, Mont. – Powered by Ruth Chepsat's first place finish, No. 14 ranked Rocky Mountain College claimed the 2019 Frontier Conference's Championship title on Friday afternoon. 

Racing at Amend Park in Billings, Montana, the Battlin' Bears finished with 36 points. Montana Western finished in second with 54 points. 

Separating from Carroll College's Reghan Worley and Montana Western's Eierann O'Conner in the final kilometer, Chepsat won the Frontier Conference Championship on a time of 18:44.50. With the victory, Chepsat earned the Frontier Conference Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year honor. 

Three other Battlin' Bears finished with top ten times among the 49 runners competing at the race. Sydney Little Light finished in fifth with a time of 19:24.30 while teammate Mei-Li Stevens finished right behind her on a time of 19:31.80. Courtney Hallock ran a time of 19:36.20 to place in ninth. 

All four runners received all-conference honors for their performances.

Carrie Daniels finished in 15th as Rocky's fifth scoring runner on a time of 20:08.00. 

In 2017, Rocky's women's team finished last at the Frontier Conference Cross Country Championship. Now just two years removed, the Battlin' Bears earned the right to hoist up the conference trophy as Frontier Conference champions. The victory counts as the first conference title for Rocky's head cross country coach Mike McLean.

"We felt like we were the best team in the conference this year," said McLean. "Today we got a chance to prove it among some very, very good runners. We are so proud of this team today."

Elsewhere, Larissa Saarel finished 20:47.50 to place in 26th overall while Carina Bracy ran a time of 20:56.60 to finish in 28th. Guan-Yin Stevens finished in 30th on a time 21:17.70.

With the conference title, the Battlin' Bears earn an automatic berth in the NAIA's National Championship. This will be the second straight year that the Battlin' Bears will have a chance to compete at the national stage. 

"Last year was a year of improvement for the team and it allowed us to get to where we are now. Yeah, we earned a trip to nationals last season which was special, but I don't want us going there to feel like a novelty," said McLean. "We're not here to take pictures. We are here to compete at the national stage and we are going to do that this year."

The Battlin' Bears will next compete at the 2019 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship in Vancouver, Washington on November 22.