Rexford, NY--- The Sage Colleges athletic department gathered on April 26 at the Mohawk River Country Club and Chateau to bestow the program’s top awards for the 2009-2010 academic year.  Sage, which now boasts 10 varsity athletic teams that compete as an NCAA Division III member and a full-member of the Skyline Athletic Conference, handed out a Gator of the Year award as the team’s Most Valuable Player Award in each sport as well as other honors at the banquet as athletic department staff, the college’s dignitaries, families and friends gathered to salute the excellence that occurred in 2009-2010 at Sage. By next fall, Sage will field 12 varsity teams with the addition of men’s cross country and men’s soccer to the fold.

2009-2010 Sage Athletic Honor Society:

 (The Sage College’s Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Society recognizes junior, senior, or graduate level student-athletes, who have maintained a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.2 or better and have participated as a member of a varsity team for at least two seasons.)

Sarah Briggs (Jr., Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), Women’s Soccer

Nicole Killeen (Jr., Petersburgh, NY/Berlin), Women’s Soccer

Amanda Potter (Jr., Schenectady, NY/Schalmont), Women’s Soccer

2009-2010 Sage Sport-by-Sport Awards and honorees  
            (Gator of the Year is the team’s Most Valuable Player Award)

Women’s Soccer:

            Gator of the Year:      Ashley Allain (Jr., MF, Stillwater, NY/Stillwater)

            (She was named to the 2009 Skyline Conference All-Star Women’s Soccer Team First-Team for the second time after serving as the team’s tri-captain. She led the team and the league with her 0.62 assists per game average after tallying four goals, 10 assists and 18 points this past fall, which was second best on the 2009 squad. She was also tapped as the 2009 Skyline Conference Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and set Sage’s single-season assist record in 2009 with her 10 assists and holds the Sage career assist record with 22 in just three seasons. She brings 12 career goals with 22 assists, good enough for 46 career points in her three campaigns with Sage and stands seventh on the career total point list entering her senior season.)

            Most Improved Player:         Krystal Cozzens (Sr., F, Cohoes, NY/Cohoes)

            (Since her arrival at Sage, Krystal helped the Gators earn three straight post-season berths as a member of the soccer team after never playing the sport in high school.  A four-year letterwinner and a team captain this past fall, she helped the squad with her outstanding play on the pitch.  An accomplished scholar-athlete, Krystal is a nursing major at Sage. On her career, she played in 58 games, making seven starts. She added 12 goals with and three assists in four seasons, while her six goals in 2009 was a personal-best. She added the game-winning goal this fall in the team’s 4-1 win over SUNY-Cobleskill in early September.)

            Coaches’ Award:        Rebecca Marszalek (So., F, Adams, MA/Hoosac Valley)

            (She finished the season with a selection to the 2009 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team as well as the first ECAC All-Star Women’s Soccer Second Team after leading the Gators in scoring for the second straight year. She racked up 15 goals with two assists and 32 points on the year, while connecting on five game-winning goals. In just two years on the team, she already ranks third on the Sage career goals list with 29, and fourth in points with 63.)