Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) cross country Destiny Garza
Garza ended the 2015 cross country season finishing 31 st at the NAIA Cross Country Meet with a time of 18:13.2. Finishing in the top 30 would have given Garza the NAIA All-American status. However, that finish didn’t leave Garza undeterred. In May, she ran her first ever marathon at the NAIA National Championship meet and crossed the finish line first at 3:03:31, seven minutes ahead of the number two runner.
Head Coach Jason Covarrubias believes the 31 st place finish in the fall was fuel for Garza, “I truly believe that this lingered in her stomach all track season and you could see it in her training. She told me that she was going to train harder than before so that this would never happen again and she wound up winning the NAIA National Marathon.”
The Lions will also return their most decorated male runner in Jerry Nava . Nava, who was a SAGU soccer player before turning into a cross country stand-out, also ran the NAIA Marathon and finished in 14 th place (2:50:09). In 2015, Nava competed in the NCCAA 8K meet where he finished 26 th out of 135 runners.
Nava came close to qualifying for the NAIA National Championships in cross country, but had an experience similar 
to Garza, coming up one place short of qualifying for the National Championships at the Sooner Athletic Conference meet. ” We all are looking forward to seeing what Jerry can do this season,” says Covarrubias, “He has put in the work all spring and summer and is ready to be the first male NAIA XC National Championship qualifier.”
There will be a few new names, as well as familiar ones to watch for this season. For the women, sophomore Genny McCullough will be back in action along with freshman Caitlin Cruz .
On the men’s side, Captain Jose Campos is back and healthy. Also, Adrian Cedillo is primed for a great sophomore season. Robert Herrera , Cody Walker and Raul Olmos will all be athletes to pay attention to.
SAGU cross country will kick-off their season with a meet right down the road. The first meet is on Saturday, September 3, 2016 and hosted by Dallas Baptist University in Mansfield. On Saturday, September 24, 2016 the Lions will host a dual with Texas Lutheran University in Maypearl, Texas. Start time for both meets is at 8am.
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]
