Men's Cross Country

MIAC announces 2025 Men’s Cross Country Awards

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its men's cross country awards on Thursday. 
 
Augsburg senior Mohammed Bati was named MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, while St. Olaf first-year Connor Hitchcock 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. The MIAC also recognized its All-Conference and Honorable Mention runners from last Saturday's conference meet.
 
Bati (Sr./Dodala, Ethiopia/GAP School) collected his unprecedented fourth consecutive MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year honor after becoming the first runner in MIAC Championship history to win the men's 8K race four straight seasons. Bati crossed the finish line in 24:32.7 with a 10.4-second margin of victory and the fifth-fastest 8K time in conference history.
 
Hitchcock (Fy./Sitka, Alaska/Sitka) received MIAC Rookie of the Year honors after leading all first-year runners at the MIAC Men's Cross Country Championships with a time of 26:02.1 on the 8K course. Hitchcock finished 14th overall, collecting All-MIAC honors in the process. He is the first Ole to be named MIAC Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year since the award was established in 2022.
 
Power (6th season) was named MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third time in his career after guiding the Oles to a fourth consecutive conference title. Power's Oles scored 33 points at the 2025 MIAC Championships, placing seven runners in the top 15 and eleven in the top 25. Power was previously selected as the MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2024.
 
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, who became just the 12th four-time All-MIAC honoree in recorded MIAC men's cross country history, while St. Olaf's Kevin Turlington and Carleton's Gabe Nichols received All-Conference honors for the third consecutive men's cross country season - a feat achieved by just 54 men in recorded conference history.
 
A complete list of 2025 men's cross country honorees can be found below.
 
| 2025 MIAC Men's Cross Country Awards |