Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) cross country Dallas Baptist University Invitational Jerry Nava

“I could not be more proud of these kids,” says Coach Jason Covarrubias , “They believe in working and it showed today.  Both teams put up solid performances which showed as we added up the times.”  The men were shooting to have a combined time of 147:48 to qualify as a team to the NCCAA National Cross Country Championships in Clinton, MS in November.  The Lady Lions needed 119:50.  The Lions combined total was 139:56 and the Lady Lions ran a 117:02.  This was the first time SAGU qualified for the NCCAA in the first meet of the season.

In the men’s 8k, the Lions were only two points away from third place.  The team’s top five were impressively young and promising with one junior, one sophomore and three freshmen.  The men were led by returner Jerry Nava , who broke his own SAGU cross country record with a 25:59 showing.  Nava placed sixth overall.  Sophomore Adrian Cedillo finished in 27:42, followed by a slew of freshman; Robert Herrera (28:17), Cody Walker (28:19) and Raul Olmos (29:37).

The Lady Lions were led by veteran captain Destiny Garza who ran the course in 18:31.  The time was good enough for a fourth place finish overall.  The SAGU freshman on the women’s side also had a good showing.  Freshman Caitlin Cruz finished the 5k in 22:37, Genny McCullough crossed at 23:01, followed by newcomer Keila Padilla (25:32) and Hannah Lee (27:18).

In two weeks, on Saturday September 17, 2016, SAGU will run at Missouri Southern University in Joplin, Missouri.

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]