In women’s cross country, freshman Alaina Krueger was named the Gators of the Year in 2012. In her first season at Sage for the new varsity program, she finished as the team’s top racer in six of the team’s eight races. She was the champion at the Green Mountain College Invitational and helped the team to the Championship title as well at the race. She was also the program’s leading finisher at the ECAC Division III Championship and the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships.

Head Cross Country Jim Bowles noted, “Alaina’s hard work paid off both in the classroom as well as on the course for Sage. Her outstanding academic record coupled with her success in leading the team as the top finisher in six of the eight meets, make her a wonderful choice as our cross country Gator of the Year.

As a newcomer for Sage last year, Alaina Krueger was one of the top performers on the team in 2012 and finished in 14^th place at the Skyline Conference Championships, propelling Sage to a third place team finish.

She was the individual champion at the 2012 Green Mountain College Invitational after she posted a time of 20:32 for the 5 K course and helped Sage women win the meet.

She also excelled in the classroom at Sage and was placed on the 2012 Skyline Scholar-Athlete Team as well as Sage’s 2012-2013 Sage Scholar-Athlete Team. She earned Skyline Conference Runner and Rookie Runner of the Week honors once, while being placed on the Skyline Conference Honor Roll twice.

A three-sport stand-out at Ravena –Coeymans-Selkirk High School, she excelled in soccer, track and field and cross country scholastically. A former team captain in both cross country and track and field, she was named MVP in both sports as well. She earned Colonial Council All-Star Second Team honors in both soccer and cross country.

She is majoring in applied biology at Sage and is the daughter of Gary Krueger and Patricia Vanvalkenburg.