Southwestern Assemblies of God University Destiny Garza NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship Jerry Nava ^th

“I’m just so proud of both of them,” says Coach Jason Covarrubias , “Their longest run ever was 18 miles and that was on Monday.  I was nervous because I thought I had undertrained them because of the 10k and 5k two weeks ago at the NCCAA.”

Undertraining proved to be of no concern for both Garza and Nava.  For much of the race, Garza was neck and neck with Michaela Werner from Oklahoma City University .   At mile 16, Garza was 1:30 ahead of the number three runner.  In the end, the second place finisher came across seven minutes behind Garza.

The heat and humidity forced many runners to drop out.  However, the weather worked perfectly in Garza’s favor.  Being from Houston, many of her training runs were hot and humid.

“I just thank God that I finished.  I wanted to stop at a couple of spots and sit down and cry because it was hard and hot.  But at mile 23 I thought, just a 5K left!  Before the race I thought there was no way that I could finish first, the time was too fast for me, “says Garza.

Covarrubias didn’t see the time being an issue, “She works so hard and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.  The key is she worked hard.  The work is what got her there, and then she started believing in herself.  We believe and we say it all the time that ‘work still works’.”

In the past two weeks alone, Garza has finished first in both the National Christian Colleges Athletics Association (NCCAA) 10k and the NAIA marathon.

Coming into the race, Nava was sitting right in the middle of the pack of 59 runners with their qualifying times.  For much of the race, Nava was in 19 ^th place.  After hitting the mile 22 wall, he continued to move up five spots, which is very difficult to do.

At the beginning of the 2014 season, Nava decided to leave soccer behind and give distance running a try.  Only two seasons in and he still sees himself as a soccer player, “I am proud of Jerry because he has always been a soccer player.  After the race he said, ‘Not too bad for a soccer player, huh Coach?’  I giggled and said not too bad at all!  I am amazed at what he has done,” shares Covarrubias.

“I have an accomplished feeling.  I just conquered something I never thought I would do.  Coach asked me earlier in the season if I would do the marathon and I laughed and said, ‘No!  I’m a soccer player.  I can’t do that”, recalls Nava.

This season was SAGU’s first time to declare to compete in the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.  Garza and Nava will now enjoy their summer break.  Both will be back in action with cross country in the fall.  The first meet with be at Dallas Baptist University on Saturday, September 3 ^rd , 2016.

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]