Waxahachie, Texas – April 15, 2017- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) cross country team had a busy week, competing in three different meets over 1,200 miles apart. Destiny Garza and Jerry Nava each competed in separate meets in California and the rest of the team raced at the McMurry Open .

“This weekend was a first for us as a program,” explains head coach Jason Covarrubias , “It was the first time we had to have split squads to compete in multiple meets and to have members invited to nationally ranked meets.  These kids competed and it showed as some hit personal best, season bests and national qualifier marks.”

Jerry Nava competed at the Beach Invitational hosted by Long Beach State University. In the 10k, Nava finished in 33:56.75, a season best.  The time also qualified Nava for the NCCAA National Championship.  This qualification completes the distance trifecta in which Nava qualifies for the 10k, 5k and 3k steeple chase.

Senior All-American Destiny Garza competed in the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays hosted by Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.  Garza ran a season best in the 10k, finishing in 38:03.63.  The time qualifies Garza as a 10k B List athlete for the NAIA National Championship.

At McMurry, four personal records were broken. Robert Herrera finished first in the 10k at 35:21.88.  This was also a personal record. Cody Walker set a new school record in the 800 and finished fifth with a time of 2:01.19. Raul Olmos PR’d in the 800 and finished eighth (2:02.40).  For the women, Fille (Fifi) Kinyamahanga set a personal record in the 1500m with a time of 5:56.44.

“These kids just keep getting better and it all stems back to practice.  You’ve got to train hard to race harder, and that is what they are doing!  We now are exactly four weeks away from Christian National (NCCAA) and six weeks from the NAIA Nationals.  It is time to run fast,” says Covarrubias.

On Saturday, April 22, 2017, SAGU will be racing at the John Duckett Twilight hosted by Rice University in Houston, Texas.

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.