Gulf Shores, Alabama – May 28, 2017- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) track team has officially ended their season.  The final meet was the biggest of all, with senior Jerry Nava and freshman Robert Herrera competing at the NAIA Marathon National Championship .

Out of the 77 athletes participating in the National Championship, only 44 finished.  Both of SAGU’s runners crossed the finish line despite the hot and humid running conditions.

Nava finished 14 ^th overall with a time of 2:52:21.80. This was the second year in a row that Nava finished 14 ^th .   This year he was the first Sooner Athletic Conference athlete to cross the finish line.  Even though the heat dictated the race, his time was only 1:30 slower than last year.

Head Coach Jason Covarrubias is finding it difficult to believe that Nava ran his final track event, “Time capsules are absolute.  Time, both the stop watch and in life, is not bias and does not care about you. It just goes. So we must capitalize on opportunities that occur during this short time that we have!  That is what Jerry did and has done for the past three years,” Covarrubias continues, “I’m so proud of him, to go through the agony not once but twice is impressive. He represented us well today.”

Freshman Robert Herrera qualified for the national meet in his first collegiate track season.  Herrera ran across the finish line at 3:03:17.60 in 25 ^th place.  Only four freshman across the country actually finished the marathon.  Herrera was 2 ^nd amongst all the Frosh.

“Robert’s run was a complete display of self-denial,” remarks Covarrubias, “He told me that we trained too hard for this and he wasn’t going walk off the course. Let me tell you one thing, not too many freshman have that skin on the wall.”

Junior Christian Graham from St. Mary (Kansas) took first place with a time of 2:37:31.20.

About SAGU:

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.