OKLAHOMA CITY – In a historic freshman season loaded with program firsts, MACU Men's Cross Country runner Jaden Rodriguez will be making history once again on Friday by becoming the first MACU runner to compete at the NAIA National Championships. The race will be run at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

In his first collegiate season after a successful career at Bridge Creek High School, Rodriguez is coming off a history stretch where he became MACU's first All-Sooner Athletic Conference honoree and first NCCAA All-American within one week.

On Saturday, Nov. 9, the Blanchard, Oklahoma native earned his bid to the NAIA National Championships when he came away with an eighth-place finish at the SAC Championship at Eldon Lyon Park in Bethany, Oklahoma. With his time of 25:16.1, not only did Rodriguez set an individual qualifying mark, but shattered the program's 8k record which he already owned entering the match.

Six days later, Rodriguez made history once again. Competing at the NCCAA National Championships at the Warsaw Community Cross Country course in Warsaw, Indiana on Friday, Nov. 15, Rodriguez recorded the second-fastest 8k time in program history when he crossed the line in 25:53.0 to place sixth in meeting, adding an All-American accolade to his repertoire.