May 14, 2026
MADISON, S.D. – The Frontier Conference presented the 2025-26 Champions of Character for men's and women's outdoor track & field, presented by WinWon Technologies. The recipients were honored on the second day of the two-day conference meet at Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson, N.D., on May 3.
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WinWon is dedicated to supporting excellence in the world of athletics through modernization. To learn more about them as a strategic conference partner, please visit
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Head coaches were asked to select one student athlete per team he or she coaches to receive this prestigious award. The award recognizes student athletes who best exemplify the five cores' values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.
Cody Farland, a graduate student in cyber operations from New Underwood, S.D., was selected as the DSU Men's Outdoor Track & Field Champions of Character. "Cody has battled through multiple injuries over the last two seasons," commented head coach
Alex Glover. "He was previously a multiple time All-American runner for us and has worked extremely hard to be able to get back to run at a high level to help the team."
"It has been a very long road to get back to being able to run well, but he has done it all in hopes of being able to help the team win," added Glover. "He has kept on extremely positive attitude through it all, which I really appreciated. It has been a pleasure being his coach."
Farland is a three-time NAIA All-America runner at Dakota State, earning the status at the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field meet in the 800-meter run and the 2024 NAIA Indoor Track & Field meet in the 4 x 800-meter relay and the 1-mile run.
He will be running in the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship in the 4 x 800-meter relay next week in Asheville, N.C., for the Trojans.
Farland had received numerous All-Conference awards since 2021, including cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. He was named the North Star Athletic Association Track Athlete-of-the-Mee and Most Valuable Track & Field Athlete during the 2022 indoor conference meet, where he was champions in the 800-meter run, 1-mile run, and 3000-meter run. He also earned academic awards from the NAIA national and conference levels.
Molli Thornton was selected as the Frontier Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Champions of Character recipient for Dakota State.
"Molli is a great runner for us and an even better person," said Glover. "She has an infectious personality that people gravitate towards."
"She is also someone that leads by example and has really become a leader amongst the team," added Glover. "She came into DSU as an extremely timid person and has really grown and became someone that underclassmen really look up to."
Thornton will be running at the NAIA Women's Outdoor Track & Field national meet next week in the 4 x 400-meter relay for DSU.
She had received multiple All-Conference track & field honors at Dakota State. She also collected academic honors from the NAIA and conference levels.
Molli, a native of Hartford, S.D., is a junior biology major at Dakota State University.
