Dickinson State University returns to Frontier Conference after unanimous vote

Dec. 12—HELENA, Mont. — Via a unanimous approval, the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks will be nesting in another conference come 2025. The team will officially be leaving the North Star Athletic Conference by the summer of that calendar year and join the Frontier Conference, which is a major move for a team that has dominated the NSAA for more than a decade and saw teams leave over the years, including — most recently — Waldorf University of Iowa.

"We have enjoyed competing in the North Star conference and we wish our North Star competitors much continued success," Dickinson State President Steve Easton said. "But we are excited to join the Frontier Conference, which is one of the top NAIA conferences in the entire country. With many Blue Hawk student-athletes from Montana and a long history of competing against Frontier Conference universities in the non-conference season in several sports, we look forward to strengthening our rivalries with our friends from the Frontier Conference."

While Jamestown recently decided to rejoin the NSAA, and reports previously indicated the Frontier Conference and the NSAA might merge, the move comes as little surprise as signs were that negotiations were ongoing from the time of Waldorf's decision to leave. Jamestown, however, might look to jump to NCAA Division II in relatively short order, according to numerous stories associated with the Jimmies.

The Blue Hawks' move actually means a homecoming — of sorts — for DSU, which left the Frontier for the NSAA in 2014. The North Star currently has seven members, but Waldorf, located in Iowa, and Viterbo, in Wisconsin, previously announced their decision to leave the NSAA after this year.

"This is a significant milestone for the Frontier Conference and the NAIA. The Frontier Conference is one of the most-competitive athletic conferences in the nation and on behalf of the Council of Presidents, I am pleased to welcome Dickinson State University to our conference as a full member starting in 2025," said Dr. John Cech, chair of the Frontier Conference Council of Presidents and president of Carroll College in a press release Tuesday.

There are 10 member schools which make up the Frontier Conference, many of which have featured on the DSU schedule often in recent seasons in a variety of sports: Carroll, Montana Tech, Montana Western, MSU-Northern, Providence and Rocky Mountain compete in multiple sports. Meanwhile, Arizona Christian, the College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon are affiliate members which compete in football only.

DSU's NAIA sports teams include football, volleyball, men's and women's cross-country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's golf, softball, baseball, cheer, and men's and women's wrestling. The newest Blue Hawk NAIA sport is women's wrestling, which is currently in its first year of competition. Non-NAIA DSU sports include rodeo, e-sports, and shooting (trap) sports, all of which are co-ed.

The addition of Dickinson State will give the Frontier seven full-time members in women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's track and field. It also brings the conference to 10 football programs with six full-time members and four associate members.

For more information about Dickinson State athletics, please visit the website at

https://www.dsubluehawks.com/landing/index

or just keep reading The Dickinson Press.