BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its men's cross country awards on Thursday. Augsburg junior Mohammed Bati was named MIAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, while Bethel first-year Hootie Hage was selected as the Rookie of the Year, and St. Olaf head coach Brian Power was celebrated by his peers as the MIAC Coach of the Year.
Bati (Jr. | Dodala, Ethiopia | GAP School) collected his third straight MIAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year honor after becoming the first competitor in MIAC Championship history to break 24 minutes in the 8K race, covering the course in 23:54.6. Bati joins former St. Olaf runner Grant Wintheiser (2012-14) in winning three straight MIAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year awards.
Hage (Fy. | Prior Lake, Minn.) received MIAC Rookie of the Year honors after leading all first-year runners at the MIAC Championships with a time of 25:56.6 on the 8K course. Hage finished 22nd overall, collecting honorable mention distinction in the process. He is the first Royal in history to be named MIAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year.
Power (5th season) was named MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding the Oles to a third consecutive conference title. The Oles posted the largest margin of victory in recorded conference history (73 points) at the 2024 MIAC Championships and placed all five scorers in the top 10, with ten in the top 25. Power was previously selected as the MIAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2022.
In addition to the top individual honors, the MIAC Men's Cross Country All-Conference and Honorable Mention runners were also recognized. The top 15 finishers in Saturday's MIAC Championship race received All-Conference honors, while finishers 16-25 received Honorable Mention.
Eleven of the 15 All-Conference honorees had been recognized as All-MIAC or honorable mention in previous seasons, including Augsburg’s Mohammed Bati, Carleton’s Roy Llewellyn, and St. Scholastica’s Calvin Boone, each of whom earned the third All-MIAC cross country honors of their careers. Just 51 men in recorded MIAC men’s cross country history have been named All-Conference three times or more.
A complete list of 2024 men’s cross country honorees can be found below.