Wingate's Mrochen Named 2022 SAC Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate University's Bastian Mrochen was voted the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference announced today.
The South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the Conference's championship sports and is voted on by the SAC's Faculty Athletic Representatives Committee. The winners are selected based on their achievements in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
Mrochen, a junior psychology major, has a 3.969 grade point average. He is a four-time member of Wingate's President's List and a two-time member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll. This is his second SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, as he earned the award in 2021.
A native of Liebenau, Germany, Mrochen serves as a private tutor for middle and high school aged students in mathematics, English, and French during the summers and holidays in Germany. An active member of the Wingate community, he has volunteered during the United Way Day of Caring. He was named a Wingate Cross Country team co-captain for his sophomore and junior year.
"I had the pleasure of teaching Bastian Mrochen in my inferential statistics class...he was an excellent student," said Vanessa Baucom, Wingate University Adjunct Mathematics Instructor. "The course was an online course, which for many students made it more difficult. Bastian was the exception...he excelled in the course. Bastian possessed an academic maturity not often found in undergraduate students. Looking back at his grades in the course, he completed every single daily assignment given throughout the semester and finished with the highest exam grade out of both of my classes. Bastian often attended optional Zoom meetings when others would choose not to put forth the effort. Through his questioning, it was clear that he desired not just the grade but the understanding, which made him a true joy to teach!"
On the course, Mrochen has shown outstanding athletic performance. He placed 11th in the 10K with a time of 31:42.68 at the 2022 NCAA DII Southeast Cross Country Regionals and made the All-Region team for the second straight year. This past summer, he was a second-place finisher in the German Cross Country Championships and raced in the European Cross Country Championships. As a sophomore, Mrochen was named All-SAC Cross Country First Team, SAC Freshman of the Year, Wingate University Cross Country Rookie of the Year and All-Southeast Region Cross Country First Team after placing sixth in the Southeast Regional meet. He was named All-SAC in the 5K and All-SER in the 5K and 3K in track & field and earned USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region Track & Field honors in the 3000m indoor, DMR indoor, and the 5000m outdoor. Mrochen was also a member of the Wingate University school-record holding distance medley relay quartet. In the summer of 2021, he won a bronze medal in the 5000 meters at the European Under 20 Championships. Representing Germany, Mrochen recorded a time of 14:34.04.
"Bastian Mrochen has been a key element of our squad since he arrived on campus in the fall of 2020," said head coach Pol Domenech. "He is extremely disciplined with his training, his class work and everything else he does. He is one of our top contributors on the cross country course. He is the true definition of student-athlete as he takes both his studies and his athletic activities equally seriously. We are lucky to work with Bastian on a daily basis and his teammates are lucky to have him as a leader and role model."
Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Finalists
Jacob Parkinson, Lenoir-Rhyne
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