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Augsburg cross country finds the perfect role model in Mohammed Bati. He’s really fast, too.

paul hodowanic, pioneer press
·3 min read

Before every Augsburg University cross country meet, head coach Nick Larson tries to carry the team’s tent to the race site.

Key word: Tries.

Because before he can grab it, he’s beaten to the punch by Mohammed Bati, the first-year runner and MIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

“It always stands out to me. He has a race to run and I always try to carry it, but Mo will say, ‘No, coach, I got it.’ It isn’t that big of a task, but when you have somebody that talented willing to do the work to help the team, I think it says quite a lot,” Larson said.

It’s an encapsulation of Bati’s personality, Larson said: “humble and hard working.”

Luckily, the literal extra weight Bati puts on his shoulders every week hasn’t seemed to affect him much. The 23-year-old freshman won his first four collegiate races this fall each by more than 12 seconds. He broke the Augsburg school record for the 8,000-meter cross country distance by 43 seconds and won the MIAC Championship race by more than 20 seconds.

This weekend, he will be just the fifth Auggie in school history to compete in the NCAA men’s Division III National Championships. The 8,000-meter race is Saturday in Lansing, Mich.

“We had expectations but we also were guardedly optimistic because you don’t actually know until they start racing,” Larson said of Bati joining the team this year. “I was just really excited that our hope was real, it wasn’t just a dream.”

Bati’s dreams had long been realized before finding success at Augsburg.

Born and raised in Ethiopia, Bati spent the first 19 years of his life there before he migrated to the U.S. in 2018 and reconnected with his mother, who had come to America six years earlier. One of six children, Bati said it was “hard to find success” in Ethiopia.

“You just don’t have a lot of good opportunities. Here, people support you, encourage you, tell you, ‘It’s OK, tomorrow’s a different day,’ ” Bati said.

And running was an avenue for opportunity, both to find camaraderie and support his educational goals. He’s a freshman at age 23 and a pre-nursing major. He also works nights as an in-home healthcare worker.

”I want to work with people, help people. A lot of people need help,” he said. “If you do something to help people, you’re blessed.”

Bati had been on Larson’s radar for a while. Frankly, it would have been hard not to notice Bati.

After arriving in Minnesota in 2018, Bati spent a year running at St. Paul Highland Park and then began competing on the local running circuit. In 2021, he finished third in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. He won the Surly Trail Loppet Half-Marathon, the Mankato Half-Marathon, plus several smaller races.

In 2022, Bati won the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon and placed 35th at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, picking up other 5k and 10k race wins along the way.

“We obviously knew that Mo was super talented coming in,” Larson said, ”but he’s helped our team be better because they see his work ethic and how humble he is, and they model after him. He’s never about Mo. It’s about the team.”

The team has given him plenty in return.

“I can’t have words to explain,” Bati said. “The coaches support you, encourage you. I learned a lot from my teammates. I get from them a lot of support. It’s more than family.”

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