Dallas, Texas – December 18, 2016- Two of Southwestern Assemblies of God University’s (SAGU) best cross country athletes had impressive showings at the BMW Dallas Half Marathon . NAIA reigning Marathon National Champion Destiny Garza and junior Jerry Nava both ran in the yearly event in downtown Dallas.
Both athletes had their eyes set on qualifying for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the marathon once again, however, one runner came up a little short according to head coach Jason Covarrubias , “Jerry finished 42 seconds shy of hitting the “B” list mark, but Destiny qualified as an “A” lister by nearly four and a half minutes. She will be ready come May to defend her National Championship! Jerry will have another opportunity to qualify for the marathon at the SAGU Half Marathon on February 4 th .”
Both Nava and Garza finished first in their age groups, which is impressive considering over 12,000 people competed.
Garza finished in 6th place overall and is an A list qualifier for the NAIA National Championship . She crossed the finish line at 1:24:32.
Garza is the reigning NAIA National Marathon Champion. In May, Garza won event, finishing at 3:03:31. She finished seven minutes before the second place finisher.
Nava finished in 5 th place overall with a time of 2:50:09, as well as being first in his age group. Although he was only 42 seconds away from qualifying for the National Championship, he has more opportunities to qualify in upcoming races.
In May, like Garza, Nava was SAGU’s first male qualifier for the NAIA Marathon National Championship.
“I do not care how many miles you run a week but to race, not just run, for 13.1 miles is amazing in and of itself. These kids kicked it into gear after being in neutral so to speak for almost a month after the NAIA National Cross Country Meet. I am extremely proud of these two and am looking forward to a great track season,” exclaims Covarrubias.
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]
