All-American Avila Leads Brewer's First Season at Concordia

The 2011 Concordia cross country season was all about making giant strides, and first-year head coach Jim Brewer and his squads certainly lived up to that.

Brewer, who only had a handful of returning runners from 2010, spent the year building a program and at the same time trying to put a competitive team on the course immediately.  The Vanguard Invitational on October 8 was the first race that Concordia was able to place a team score.  The ladies placed 11^th and set the building blocks for the remainder of the season.  The women improved to sixth at the Biola University Invitational on October 22 and finished eighth at the GSAC Championships on November 5.  The ending results were a dramatic change from just trying to record a score, and built the core of a solid program getting better every day.

The men were not able to place a team score until the GSAC Championships, but junior Rick Avila was the highlight of the entire cross country program.  Rick, from Sylmar HS and North Hollywood, CA, was outstanding for the Eagles in 2011.  He hit his stride at the Biola Invite where he placed third, and he followed that with another third place finish at the GSAC Championships, which sent him to the NAIA National Championship in Vancouver, WA.  The junior made Concordia cross country very visible at nationals, as Rick ran a personal best of 24:39 and finished 20^th, in addition to being named a 2011 NAIA All-American.

There is no doubt Concordia cross country is in good hands with head coach Jim Brewer and his staff.  What they did in a short period of time this season is extremely impressive and very promising for the future.