Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – November 7, 2015- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) cross country team has made history, qualifying their first ever athlete for the NAIA National Cross Country Meet . Destiny Garza finished in third place at the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) cross country meet, giving her an automatic bid to the national tournament.
Garza helped lead the Lady Lions to a sixth place finish at the SAC tournament. This finish was SAGU’s best finish ever at a SAC meet.
Head coach Jason Covarrubias says the women were picked to finish seventh, so it felt nice to end ahead of that, “The women finished the best they ever have. We’ve improved and grown. It was the first time to put it all together at one time.”
In third place, Garza crossed the finish line at 17:53. Genny McCullough finished in 28 th place at 21:17. Kelly Cook finished at 21:38 in 31 st place. In 38 th place Markia Sanders finished at 22:14 and Julie Alvarez finished in 26:22 in 53 rd place.
“After the meet, the guys were a little letdown. I told them, If they can compete in the best conference in the NAIA, we can go to the NCCAA and finish in the top ten next weekend,” says Covarrubias.
Gerardo Nava led the Lions, finishing in 17 th place at 26:32. Walker Loyd came in 26 th at 26:54, Gabriel Price was 40th at 28:14, in 43 rd was Adrian Cedillo at 28:22. Brad Beimler was 49 th at 28:35 and Eric Jones came in 62 nd at 32:03.
On November 14, 2015 the men’s and women’s cross country teams will be competing at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Cross Country National Championship in Houghton, New York. Five women and six guys will be running in the meet.
Garza will participate in both the NCCAA and the NAIA national championship. The NAIA meet will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 21, 2015.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, SAGU SID, [email protected]
