COSTA MESA – Evan Hernandez, India Moors and Vanessa Flores have qualified for the 2023 NAIA Marathon Championship on Sunday in Sacramento. The race is considered a "stand alone" championship and no longer part of the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

The race begins at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. Sixty-five men and 35 women will race. All participants needed to run a certain number of miles to qualify, but did not need to hit a certain time. 

Runners will trek from Folsom to the Capitol Mall in the 40th annual California International Marathon.

Hernandez is ranked 42nd among the 65 total men's qualifiers. Among the 35 women, Flores is seeded 19th and Moors 22nd.

"I'm very excited about our three NAIA marathon qualifiers who will be competing this weekend in Sacramento," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins. "They have trained exceptionally well for this event including multiple runs in the 16-20 mile range over the past few months. This will be our final marathon championship opportunity as the NCAA doesn't provide such an event. We're grateful for this opportunity and proud of all our NAIA marathon participants (and All-Americans) through the past three decades."

VANGUARD NAIA MARATHON HISTORY

Year	Name	Place
1995	Tim Hardin	16th
1996	Larry Holland	3rd (All-American)
1996	Tim Hardin	DNF
1996	Heather Salisbury	12th
1997	Larry Holland	DNF
2004	Mikael Larsson	11th
2008	Jason Valenzuela	10th
2011	Christian de Glymes	13th
2012	Kimberly Kent	5th (All-American)
2012	Matt Johnson	30th
2013	Kimberly Kent	8th (All-American)
2013	Daniel Okabe	25th
2015	Zach Hunt	11th
2016	Zach Hunt	15th
2019	Caleb Myers	24th
2021	Caleb Myers	2nd (All-American)
2021	Justin Bartlebaugh	12th
*2022	Justin Bartlebaugh	7th (All-American)
*2022	Evan Hernandez	30th

*Note: 2022 was a Half Marathon due to weather concerns