UMBC’S Hassan Omar ’16, mechanical engineering, concluded a phenomenal cross country career with the Retrievers by finishing 27^th at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, November 21. Omar is an exemplary scholar-athlete — a Meyerhoff Scholar recognized as an All-Academic runner, who is now UMBC’s first cross country runner to be named an All-American.

UMBC Athletics reports that Omar completed the 10k course in a time of 30:16, besting his NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals time by 31 seconds. His NCAA Championship time is a new UMBC record, breaking the previous record Omar set in 2013.

This achievement is the latest in a long list of accomplishments throughout his cross country career. Omar was also the first Retriever to win an individual championship in the America East and finished in third place in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals earlier this month. He has been named an All-Conference selection three times in his career.

Hear Omar discuss his approach to racing in this video from the America East 2015 Indoor Track & Field Championships, also featuring Mercedes Jackson ’15, psychology:

Image: Hassan Omar ’16, mechanical engineering, at America East Cross Country Championships. Photo courtesy of America East.