Cougars Win MWC Athlete of the Week Awards

COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU junior Miles Batty and senior Katie Bowen have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men’s and women’s cross country athlete of the week.

Batty finished in first place overall in the BYU Autumn Classic with a time of 19:49.9. The 6-foot junior from Sandy was one of seven BYU harriers who finished in the top ten. The award is Batty’s third of his career.

After BYU’s team was spread out more than they would have liked, Batty trailed lead runner, unattached Cameron Levins, until late in the race when he was able to take the lead for good and help the Cougars to their first team victory of the season.

Bowen led the Cougars to a win at the Utah State Invitational, coming in first place overall in the women’s 5K with a time of 16:48. The run was Bowen’s first race since returning from her 18-month mission.

“This is my senior year, so I am going to go as hard as I can all the time,” Bowen said. “I am excited for the rest of the season and know our team can be successful.”

These are the first honors of the year for BYU's cross country athletes. Next up on September 18, the men head to Riverside, CA, for the UC Riverside Invitational with the women going further south to San Diego to run in the Aztec Invitational.