2022 MIAC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS

MINNEAPOLIS – Augsburg University's Mohammed Bati (FY, Dodola, Ethiopia/GAP School) became the first-ever Auggie men's cross country runner to be named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Thursday. In addition, Bati also took home MIAC Men's Rookie of the Year and All-MIAC honors.

With his distinction as MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, Bati becomes the first Augsburg male, and just the second-ever Auggie, to win the award after Taybri Irving was named MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2016.

Bati was also named the MIAC's inaugural Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year in addition to being named to the 15-member All-MIAC Team.

Last weekend at the MIAC Championships, he became the first-ever Auggie men's cross country runner to earn an individual conference title with an 8k time of 24:27.4, more than 20 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Bati's personal-record 8k time of 24:22.1 at the Blugold Invitational on September 30 was the fastest 8k time in school history while his time of 24:27.4 at the conference championships stands as the second-fastest in MIAC Men's Cross Country Championships history. Bati has now entered six races in his collegiate career, winning five of them with his only second-place finish coming by just one-tenth of a second.

Bati and the Auggies will compete at the NCAA Division III North Regional Championships in Northfield, Minn. on the campus of St. Olaf College on Saturday, November 12 with the women's race at 11 am and the men's race following at 12 pm.